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SPEECH 



O F 

m/p O R T A L I S, 

On the 15 th Germinal, Year X 5ih April, 1802. 

TO THE 

LEGISLATIVE BODY OF TRANCF 

ON P R E S E K T 1 K G THE 

C O N V E N T I aN 

MADE BETWEEN THE 

French Republic and the IT :u See. 



>LOl Cc 



Transluied froTK the original W^tknch, * ^•''e^ 






NEW-YORK: 

PRINTED BT ROBERT iriLSON, 
No, 71, coiner of Pine ar.d Water streets. 

1-S02. 



Lt) 



^%t> 



PREFACE. 



^T^HE following Speech natDrally became 3. topic of 
•*- dlfcuffion throughout Europe. The magnitude 
of the meafure, th? critical ftate of the civilized world 
at the time of its promulgation, the cxtraordirary 
charadler of the government which planned it, and a- 
bove all, the importance of the fubjed which it em- 
braced, united to render it a rhatter highly interefling 
to fociety at large, and of curious inveftigation to the 
religious man, the moralifl:, the politician and the phl- 
lofoph^r. It required no great fagacity to forefee that 
the fubje£l would have its enemies. The modern il- 
lumines in politics and philofophy, the difciples of 
Voltaire and RoufTeau, and the profelyres of Paine and 
Goriwin, could not be expected to digeR a meafure, 
which had for its objedl the confervation of religion ; 
and it might have been more than fufped^ed, that thofe 
of the reformed religion, forgetting that catholicifm is 
a branch of chriftianity, and that any fort of chriflianity 
>s better than atheifm v/ould revile its reftoration. But 
it could hi rdly have been fuppofed, that .obje£lions 
would be made to the fpeech of M: Portalis, on account 
of Its laying fo much weight on the temporal advantages 
of religion. Such objecftions, however, have been 
made, and though it is not ourbuGnefs, here, to refute 
them, we think it our duty to declare, that it is on that 
account, chiefly, we admire the fpeech, and confider it 
worthy being offered in an Englifh drefs to the public. 
M= Portalis was not to preach a fermon or to difcufs 
moot points of polemical divinity. He was to offer to the 
Icgiflative body reafons, why they, in their capacity as ci- 
vil legiflators, not as a conclave of divines, ought to agree 
to the concordat: and he pays juft homage to religion, 
in declining to fct forth its fpiricual benefits. 

The abolition of chriflianity in France, was found- 
*^d on the injury it was fuppcfed to do to civil and poll- 






IV. 

tic?tl foclety: its redoraticn, therefore, was mod pro- 
•erly in'roduced by the ovcrthiow of ihnt f Jf^- ; nd 
1'oul iinpiitation. The fcopf* ojF M. Portrflis fp:ech inay 
be reduced to thtfe few words. ** It has h^u) pretend- 
*' td, ihat chridir^nity is injurious k) the civil interefis 
** of mankind, you h ve felt the reverfe in the U,d 
*' events of the lad ten years, and I will diow you by 
*' incontrovertible arguments of civil polity, that chnf- 
'* tianity is highly beneficial to the temporal concerns of 
^' man. There let me fct my foot — ^let chridianity 
** have its fecular rights : its ipiritual b-;nefiis, to the 
" conception or defcript.'on of which my powers and all 
*' hnman powers are incompetent, will imprefs them- 
^^ felves without reddance upon the heart, and make 
*' thfmfelves known by their fruitSj by their indan- 
*' taneous happy efFz-ds, upon the morals, manners^ 
*' and propendtics of fociety." Religion is to be con- 
fidered in a two fold r-fpc-d^, one, as it refprdls the 
homa^-e due from the crt^ature to the Creator, the oth* 
er, as it irifuences the condufl of man to man, and 
refpeds the tender charities and the offices of juflice: 
in ihoit, the one^ as it tauchcs the heavens the other, 
as It touches the earth. To the guardians of earthly 
concerns^ ;T Legidatois, to Senates, belouc^s the dif- 
cuffion of the one ; to the pulpit alone, belongs that of 
the other. We, therefore, think thit M. Portalis has 
taken the fubj^cL up in the way hr ought, and th.t in 
giving it publicity, we fliall bene^t fociety. For we 
know, that th;re are msny v/ho end-^avcur to alienate 
the hearts of the people from religion, as a civil evil % 
n good faith and a bad life^ fays Yorick. are vey 
iroubkfome companions^ Wicked meii, therefore, al- 
ways endeavour to difie the fuggedions of chridiani- 
ty, and to eradic&te it from the heart of human 
fociety. Deprive them of their ground of cslumr^y a- 
g?iind it, as a civil grievance^ and it forever deridts thdr 

hodillty. THE TRAJs'S LATCH. 



SPEECH 

OF 

M. PORTALJS, 

On the 15th Germinal, Year X. 5th April, 1802. 
TO THE 

LEGISLATIVE BODY OF FRANCE, 

ON PRESENTING 

THE CONVENTION MADE BETWEEN 

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC AND 

THE HOLY SEE. 

F . "^ 

JL OR a long time paft, Government has been 
employed in deviling means for the re-eftablifh^ 
ment of religious peace in France. I have the 
honour to prefent you with the important refult 
of its proceedings, and to fubmit to your confid- 
cration the circumftances and principles by which 
it has been directed. 

Catholicifm had always been with us the pre-» 
vailing religion. For more than a century, it 
was the only worfhip, of which the public ex- 
( ercife was allowed by authority. All our infti- 
tutions, civil and political, were clofely inter- 
woven with thofe of religion. The clergy was 
the firft order of the State, poflefied immenfe 



( 2 ) 

wealth, enjoyed cxtenfive credit, and exercifed 
great power. 

That order of things vanifhed with the revo- 
lution. 

Then, liberty cf confcience was proclaimed.— 
The property of the Church was handed over to 
the difpofal of the nation, without any other 
ftipulation, than to defray the expences of the 
Catholic worfhip, and to pay a falary to its 
minifters. 

An attempt was foon after made to nev/ model 
the ecclefiaftical polity. 

The new regulations had to contend with the 
old inftitutions. 

The conftituent aflembly wifhed to fecure to 
itfelf, by an oath, the fidelity of the ecclefiaflics, 
whofe fituation and condition it had changed. 
The form of that oath was prefcribed by the 2 ift 
and 28th articles, Chap. 2. of the civil confti- 
tution of the clergy, decreed the 12th July 1790, 
and proclaimed the 24th Aug. following. 

It is eafier to make laws than to feduce men's 
judgments, or to alter their opinions. The far 
greater part of the ecclefiaflics refufed to take 
the oath prefcribed ; they were removed from 
their functions, and replaced by other minifters. 

Thus, the French Priefts became divided into 
two clafTes, Jurors, and non-Jurors. 1 he faith- 
ful, as well as the priefts, became divided in their 
opinions. The oppofition which exifted between 



'( 3 ) 

the diiFerent political faftions, rendered that of 
the religious interefts more violent. Mens tem- 
peTS became exafperated, and theological diflen- 
iions aflumed a charafter, which juftly infpired 
the body politic with ferious alarm. 

While the public authority was obferved to be 
neceflarily pre-occupied wdth paffing occurrences, 
attempts were made to deceive it, or take it by 
furprife. 

All parties mutually accufed and recriminated 
each other. What fort of legiflation it was, 
which atofe from that ftate of trouble and fermen- 
tation, is too well known. I {hall not recapitu- 
late it ; but confine myfelf to this one obfervation, 
that it varied with circumftances, and followed 
the courfe of public events. 

In the midft of thofe occurrences, the rights 
of confcience were every day violated in a greater 
or lefler degree. It is well known that the diforder 
was at its acme, when the 1 8th Brumaire fuddenly 
put France under better aufpices. 

At this epoch* the interefts of religion became 
the care of that Sage, and Hero, who had been 
raifed by national confidence to the Government 
of the ftate, who by his brilliant campaigns in Italy, 
by his important negociations with the different 
cabinets of Europe, and by his glorious expedi- 
tions beyond the fea, had acquired fuch com- 
prehenfive knowledge of men and things. 

A previous queftion prcfented itfelf. Is reli- 



( 4 ) 

gion in general neceflary to a nation ? Is It ne- 
ceflary to mankind ? 

We are born in focieties, already moulded 
into form, and eftabliihed for ages. We find 
in them, governments, inftitutions, laws, cuf. 
tonis, and acknowledged maxims. We never 
condefcend to inquire, at what point of contaft 
thefe fevcral conftituent parts are mutually up- 
held by each other •, or v;^hat the order is, in 
v/hich they have been eftablifhed. Wholly 
ignorant of the influence they have fucceffively 
had on our civilization, and which they continue 
to mamtain over public manners, and general 
opinions ; overweeningly confident in our acquir- 
ed knowledge, and proud of the perfeftion to 
which we flatter ourfelvcs we have attained •, we 
imagine, that without any danger to the common* 
w^eal, V7e may at once renounce, fo much as we 
pleafe to call, antient prejudices, and feparate 
ourfelves abruptly, from the very things, to which 
we owe our civilization. Hence, arifes the in- 
dilFerence of the prefent age to religious inftitu- 
tions, and to every thing which does not im.me« 
d lately depend on the arts and fciences, on the 
powers of induftry and commerce, which have of 
late been fo happily illuftrated, or on objefts o£ 
political economy, which, it fliould feem, we 
confider as the only foundations of national 
profperity, 

I (hall never be found difinclined to render 



( 5 ) 

due homage to our difcoveries, to recent attain- 
ments, and to the philofophy of modern times* 

But how great foever thefe advantages are, 
whatever may be the perfection of our fpecies, 
every candid mind is conftrained to allow, that 
fociety can no more exift, without a fyftem of 
morals, than it can, without magiftrates and laws. 

The utility, or rather the neceflity of religion, 
does it not arife then from having a fyftem of 
morals ? Is not the idea of a divine legiflator as 
effcntial to the intelligent world, as is that of a 
God, the creator and firft mover of all fecond 
caufes, to the phyucal? Theatheift who acknowl- 
edges no defign in the univerfe, and who feems 
to make ufe of his underftanding, only to aband« 
on every thing to a blind chance, can he v/ith 
any effeft preach moral rectitude, while v/ith 
his pernicious doftrlnes he dries up the very 
fountain itfelf of morality ? 

Why are there magiftrates ? why lav/s ? why 
do thofe laws hold out, on the one hand rewards, 
and on the other punifhments ? It is becaufe 
men will follow other guides befides their reafon, 
becaufe by their very nature, they are difpofed 
to hope and to fear •, and becaufe, the framers of 
national inftitutes have thought ic their duty, to 
turn thefe difpofitions to the profit of mankind, 
by making them inftrumental guides to happinefs 
!id virtue. Is it poffible then, that religion which 



( ^ ) 

<Jiolds ont ib many promifes, and lb jnany threats, 
can fail of being ufeful to foclety ? 

Laws and morals, of themfelves, would be very 
infufficient. Law regulates only fome aflions — 
religion embraces all. Law arrefts the arm ; 
religion regulates the heart. Law relates only 
to the citizen ; religion controuls the man. 

What would morals avail fociety, if they 
remained clouded and obfcured in the lofty re- 
gions of fcience, if religious inftitutions did not 
bring them down, and render them perceptible 
-to the vulgar ? 

Abftraft morals, without pofitive precepts, 
would leave reafon without a ftandard ; without 
religious tenets, would be like jujiice without 
tribunals^ 

When we fpeak of the force of the law, do 
we rightly comprehend what is the principle of 
that force ? It refides lefs in the intrinfic per- 
fefticn of the laws, than in their power. Their 
perfedlion folely, would always be, more or lefs, 
a fubjeft of controverfy. Undoubtedly, a law is 
more durable and more favourably received in 
proportion to its perfeftion ; its principal merit 
however, confifts, in its being law, that is to fay, 
in its being, not a matter of reafoningj but of de- 
cifion ; not a fimple argument, but a faft. Con- 
fequently, religious morals when refolved into 
exprefs commandments, have neceflarily a force, 
which no morals purely philofuphical, can poffefso 



( 7 ) 

The multitude is more affe£led by that which is 
enjoined, than by that which is demonftrated» 
Mankind in general feel the neceffity of being 
determined. They want axioms, ra their than de* 
monftrations. 

It cannot be obje£led, that the diverfity of po- 
fitive religions wiH prevent true natural morality 
from becoming univerfal in the world. If the 
various pofitive religions do not refemble 
each other, if they differ in their exterior rites, 
and in their re fpective dogmas, it is certain, 
that the principal articles of natural morals, 
confhitute the foundation of all pofitive re- 
ligions. Thus, the maxims and the virtues 
moft effential to the prefervation of fecial or- 
der, are every where, under the proteftion of 
religious fentiments, and of confcience ; and 
thus they acquire an energetic, ftable, and deter- 
minate charafter, which they could not derive 
from mere human knowledge. 

One of the great benefits of pofitive religion 
is, to connedl: morality with rites, with ceremo- 
nies, and with exercifes, from which in return 
it derives fupport. 

For, let us not fuppofe that mankind can be 
guided by abftraft principles, or by frigid max- 
ims. Morality is not a fpeculative fcience j it 
confifts not only in the art of thinking right, but 
of doing well. It is lefs a queftion of knowledge 
than of aftion ; but for good aftions, there caB 



I 



( 8 } 

be no prcdifpofition, no guarantee, but virtuous 
habits, that is to fay, the habit of doing thofe 
things only which lead to virtue, or, which con- 
tinually recall the idea, that we fhould learn to 
love and pra£life virtue for its own fake. 

Unqueftionably, it cannot be more truly aflert- 
ed in matters of religion, that rites and ceremo- 
nies conftitute virtue, than in civil affairs, that 
judicial forms are themfelves juflice. But as 
juftice cannot be maintained by any other means, 
than by forms, fo contrived as to prevent the 
arbitrary operations of the will, fo, in matters of 
morality, virtue can only be enfured, by the 
habitual ufe and fanftity of certain praftices, 
which prevent us from falling into careleffnefs 
and want of refleftion. 

True philofophy refpe£ls forms, as much aa 
pride contemns them. Difcipline is as effential 
to condu6l, as order to ideas. To deny the 
utility of religious rites and pra£Vices in moral 
concerns, would be to deny the dominion of the 
perception of the fenfes, over beings not purely 
fpiritual, would be to deny the force of habit 
itfelf. 

There is a natural religion, whofc doftrines 
and precepts have not efcaped the fages of anti- 
quity, and to which they could elevate themfelves 
by the efforts of cultivated reafon alone. But a 
religion purely intelledual or arbitrary, is it 
poffible that it ihould ever become national or 



popular i a religion without public worfiiipj- 
muft it not foon lofe its force ? muft it not infal* 
libly bring back the multitude to idolatry ? If 
wor{hip is to be judged of by doftrine, ought not 
doflrine to be preferved by worfhip ? A religion 
which fpeaks not to the eyes and to the imagi- 
nation, can it preferve its empire over the 
foul ? If there were nothing to unite thofe who 
profefs the fame belief, would there not be in a 
few years as many fyftems of religion, as indi- 
viduals ; and do not ufeful truths ftand under 
the neceffity of being confecrated by falutary 
eftabliihments ? Do men as they become enlight- 
ened, become angels ? Gan they hope that by 
communicating their knowledge, they can elevate 
their fellow creatures to the fublime rank of pure 
intelligence ? 

Wife men and philofophers of all ages have 
conftantly manifefted the laudable delire of com- 
municating what is good and reafonablc^ but 
have they ever agreed among themfelves, what 
they thought good and reafonable ? Does any 
great harmony prevail among thofe who have 
difcufled, and thofe, who ftill difcufs the dog* 
mas of natural religion ? Has not each of them 
his own particular opinion, and is he not reduc- 
ed to his own folitary fufFrage concerning it ? 
Since the admirable o^ces * of the Roman Conr 
My has any one by the fole efforts of huma:i 
* Tully's Offices. 
B 



( 10 ) 

knowledge, made any difcorery in " morality ? 
Since the diflertations of Plato, are mankind lef» 
agitated by metaphyfical doubts ? If any thing 
permanent and determinate has been agreed upon, 
concerning the cxiften^e and utility of God, or 
refped^ing the nature and deftination of man, is 
it not to be found among thofe who profefs z 
particulaj mode of worfhip, and who are con- 
nefted with each other by the bonds of a pofitive 
religion? 

It is the Intcreft, therefore, of human govern- 
ments to proteft religious inftitutions, fince, to 
them it is owing, that confcience interpofes in 
all the affairs of life ; fince by them it is, that 
morality and thofe fublime truths which fanftion 
and fupport it, are fyftematically compelled to 
become the objefts of pubHc faith y fince it is to 
them, in fhort, it is owing, that fociety at large 
is placed under the powerful guardianftiip of the 
divine author of nature himfelf, 

Superftition and fanaticifm ought undoubtedly 
to be execrated and expelled from every ftatc. 
Is it,however, well underftood, what fort of people 
fceptics and athcifts would make ? 

The fanaticifm of Muncer, chief of the ana« 
baptifts, has certainly been more fatal to man- 
kind than the atheifm of Spinofa, It is more- 
over true, that nations agitated by fanaticifm^ 
have, at intervals, delivered themfelves up to 
ihe moft frightful txc^fk$ and horrorse 



( II ) 

But the queftioTi' cf preference, between reli- 
gion and atheifm, is not to be decided by de- 
termining on-a propofed hypothefis, whether, it 
it is not more dangerous that fuch a man (hould 
be a fanatic, than an atheift ^ or whether, under 
certain circumitances, it would not be better 
that a people Ihould be atheiflical than fanatical | 
but, mull be decided by the folution of this, 
whether, in a long lapfe cf time, it would not be 
better for mankind in general, that the people 
Jhould fometimes abufe religion^ than to have no reli^ 
gion at a!L 

Hhe inevitable effeEi of atheifm^ fays a great 
man, ix, /o lead us to a notisn of our own independettce^ 
and confequently of revolt. What a dreadful fhoal 
for the wreck of all the virtues, mod neccffkry for 
the maintenance of focial order ! ! 

The fccpticifm of the atheift ifolates mankind, 
as much as religion unites them; it does not 
render them tolerant, but difcontented ; it breaks 
all the bonds which attach man to man, it ex- 
empts itfelf from every reftraint, and looks with 
contempt on every thing which others believe ; 
it extinguifhes fenfibility, and ftifles every fpon- 
taneous emotion of nature, while it augments 
(elf love, and caufes it to degenerate into a 
gloomy egotifm i it fubftitutes doubts in the 
place of truths ; it inflames the pafSons ; and is 
imfKitenLt againft errors ; it infpir<5S pretenHoi^s 
without enlightening tht: mind, the htitude of 



( 12 } 

Its opinions leads to vicious Ilcentioufnefs, it 
' corrupts the heart, it rends every tie, it dif- 
folves fociety Itfelf. 

Has Atheifni, even fo much as the tfftO: of 
extinguifhing fupcrftition and fanaticlfm ? It is 
impoiTible to think fo. 

The principles of fupcrftition and fanaticifm 
are deeply rooted in the imperfeftions of human 
nature. 

Superftition is the offspring of ignorance and 
of prejudice. Its charafteriftic is, that it is 
found blended with fome of thofe fecret and con- 
fufed emotions of the foul, which are commonly 
produced by too much timidity or too much con- 
fidence, and which intereft, more or lefs fenfibly, 
the wanderings of the imagination, or the preju- 
dices of the mind. 

Superftition may be defined, a blind belief, 
erroneous or exceiTive, depending almoft en- 
tirely on the mode, by which we are afrecled, 
or by Vv^hlch, from* fentiments, either of refpecl 
or fears we fubdue ourfelves, in the regulation of 
cur ccnduft or in the principles of our manners. 

With a lively imagination, a weak foul, and 
an unenlightened mind, a man maybe asfuperfti- 
tious in common fecular affairs, as in religious. 
It is not at all irreconcileable, to be at the fame 
time impious and fuperftitious ; we may take as 
inftances, the unbeliever of the middle ages, and 
the atheifl of our own timesc 



( 13 ) 

Again, every opinion whatever, religious, po* 
iitical, or philofophical, may make enthufiafts 
and fanatics. Simple queftions concerning the 
rules of grammar have nearly occafioned a civil 
war. Mankind have even fought for the choice 
of a flage player. 

According to the words of a celebrated minis- 
ter, the laft war, that France has fo glorioufly 
fuftained again ft the weight of the univerfe, was 
nothing elfe than a war againft an armed doBrine. 
Has any religious war ever fhedniore blood ? 

We cannot then impute, exclufively to reli* 
glon, the evils which ever have exifted, and 
which would ftill exift without it. 

So far from fuperftition being the offspring of 
the eftabliihment of pofitive religions, we may 
affirm, that if it were not for the reftraints of re^ 
ligious doctrines and inPcitutions, there would 
have been no bounds to credulity, to fuperftition, 
and to impoftures. Mankind, in general, are 
under the neceffity of being believers, to avoid 
credulity ; they ftand in need of a prefcribed 
form of worfliip, to prevent them from running 
into fuperftition. 

In fine^ as a code of laws Is neceflary to regu- 
late human concerns, fo is a fyftem of doftrines 
neceflary to give a determination to opinions. 
Without which, in the words of Montaigne, 
nothing is more certain than ttncertaitity itfelf* 

Pofitlvc religion is a mouud^ a barrier v/hicK 



( 14 ) 

alone can fecurc us againft this torrent of falfc 
opinions, more or lefs dangerous, as the ravings 
of the human mind invents them. May it not 
be reafonably fufpefied, that no benefit can arife 
from fubftituting falfe fyftems of religion, in the 
place of falfe fyftems of philofophy ? 

The queftion refpefiting the truth or falfehood 
of this or that pofitive religion, is nothing more 
than a mere theological queftion, entirely foreign 
to our purpofe. Religions, even falfe religions, 
have, at leaft, this of good in them, that they 
refift the introduftion of arbitrary doftrines ; in* 
dividuals have a central point of belief ; govern- 
ment refts fecure on do£lrines, which, once re- 
cognized, do not change ; fuperftition, if we 
may be allowed the expreffion, becomes regulat- 
ed, circumfcribed, and confined within certain 
bounds, which it dares not, or cannot overleap. " 

There is no room for hefitation, between falfe 
fyftems of philofophy and falfe fyftems of reli- 
gion. Falfe fyftems of philofophy render the 
mind contentious, and leave the heart colde Falfe 
fyftems of religion have, at leaft, the effe^k of 
rallying mankind round fome common principles, 
an4 ojf difpoGng them to the praftice of fomc 
virtues. Jf faflfe fyftems of religion expofe 
u$. tO: credulity, falfe fyftems of philofophy con«i 
du£V us to fcepticifm. Again, mankind in gen« 
eral, who are raAer made for aftion than medi-. 
atio.n, hs^vCi in practical afFairSjj ntore occafion 



( 15 ) 

for determining motives^ than for fubtelties and 
doubts i philofophy itfelfj has as much occaGonas 
the multitude, for the courage to be ignorant, and 
for the wifdom to believe ; for it cannot know, 
neither can it comprehend every thing. 

Do not then let us be afraid of the return of fan« 
aticlfm •, our manners, our knowledge forbid its re- 
turn. Let us honour learning, let us cultivate 
fcience, while we refpe£l religion ; we (hall thus 
become philafophers without impiety, and a re- 
ligious people without fanaticifm. 

How irreconcileable is it to common fenfe, 
that at the moment when it is afferted, that the 
proteftion given to religious inftitutions will re- 
plunge us into fanatical fuperftitions, it is, on the 
other hand, pretended, that too much noife is 
made about religion, and that it has loft its influ- 
ence on mankinde 

It muft however be admitted^that If religious in« 
ftitutions can infpire fanaticifm^ it is owing to the 
prodigious fpring they give the foul, from whence 
it muft be inferred, that they have great influence y 
and, that government would poflefs but little wit 
dom, which ihould defpife or negleft them. 

To aflTert that where religion is moft reveren- 
ced, it does-not check the growth of vice, mere-- 
ly, becaufe it is incompetent to prevent the coim- 
miflion of particular crimes and oflfences, of \^hich 
we are every day witnefles, is to raife an objeftioii^ 
'which equally militates agaiilft .morality, nay ^^ 



( i<5 ) 

gainft the laws themfelves. Morality and the 
moft fevere laws are infufficicnt to prevent every 
crime and every offence. 

In truth, in the moft religious periods of the 
world, there were not wanting men, who wholly 
- dilbelieved religion ; and ethers, who but faintly 
acknowledged or paid no attention to it. Of 
fhofe who 'have been the moft fincere and fted- 
faft believers, few have afted in ftrift conform- 
ity to their faith : neverthelefs, thofe who did be- 
lieve in religion, praftifed it fomctimes, if they 
did not praftife it always : they might go aftray, 
but they found it eafier to return again. The 
impreffions of infancy and of education are ne- 
ver entirely obliterated from the bofoms of infi* 
dels themfelves* Thofe who appear to the world 
to be fceptics, are not all fo. They get involved 
in a fort of loofe fancy, which draws them on in 
contradiftion to their judgment, which influences 
their thoughts and aftions to a certain point, 
where they hefitate and ftop. If the pride of 
reafon makes them, to a certain extent, fceptics, 
their fentiments and their feelings frequently re- 
jeft the fophifms of that reafon. 

The multitude, moreover, is much more accef- 
fible to religion than to fcepticifm : of courfe, re- 
ligious fentiments muft always have a powerful 
influence upon the bulk of mankind, upon 
the great niafs of a nation, upon fociety atlarge^. 
and upon the huiaan race. 



C 17 ) 

We eafily and of neceffity perceive the crimes 
which Religion fails to prevent ; but are we 
aware of the innumerable evils, the progrefs of 
which it checks and arrefts ? Are we qualified to 
fcrutinize the confciences of men, and to difcover 
all the guilty projects, which religion has ftrang- 
led before they could be reduced to practice ; all 
the excellent fentiments, to which it has given 
birth in the human mind ? How cornes it to pafs 
that thofe men who appear to us, in many inftan- 
ces, vicious, fhall in the aggregate be worthy 
people ? Is it not, precifely, becaufe the pious hi- 
fpirations, and the feelings of remorfe which 
the incorrigibly wicked refift, and to which good 
men yield, are of fufRcient force to govern the 
generality of mankind, in the greateft number of 
cafes, and to maintain, in the ordinary ccurfe of 
life, that uniform and univerfal direftion, without 
which fociety could not, by any pofiibility be fta« 
ble or permanent* 

Beiides, in contemplating human fociety^ we 
are apt to deceive ourfelves, with the imagina- 
tion, that, this great machine can perform its 
functions with one only of the fprings which 
put the whole in motion. This is an error, as 
evident, as it is dangerous. Man is, himfelf, 
not a fimple being, and fociety which is a com- 
bination of men, muft neceflarily be the moft 
complicated of all machineries. That we fhould 
act have the power to put it out of order, there 

C 



( ^« ) 

are an mfinite number of properties imperceptible 
to us, by v/hich it fubfifts. A received notion^ 
a cuftom, an opinion of no remarkable confe- 
quence, has often been the principal cement of 
the whole ftru€lure. 

"We imagine that it is bylaws fociety is mana-^ 
ged, when in facl it is by manners.^ Manners 
arife by flow degrees from circumftances, cuf- 
toms, and inftitutions. Of all that exifts among 
human creatures, there is no one thing, which 
more entirely encompafles and comprehends man^ 
than Religion. 

We feel more than ever the necefli ty of a pub- 
lic mode of inftruftion. Inftruftion is one of 
the wants of min, and above all, it is a want o£ 
focieties : and (hall we not prote£l thofe religious 
inPcitutions, the channels through which the fev- 
eral claSes of citizens, derive every impreffion of 
order, of duty, of humanity, and of juftice. Sci- 
ence can fall to the lot of very few : but, the 
many, may be inftrufted by religion, without 
being learned. It is religion which teaches and 
reveals all beneficial truths to thofe, who have 



* Manners are of more importance than laws. The 
law teaches us.buthere and there, and now and then ; 
manners are what vex or foothe, corrupt or purify, ex- 
alt or debafe, barbarife or refine us, by a tonftant, (lege 
cy, uniform infenfible operation, like the air we breathe 
in. They give their whole form and colour to our lives. 
According to their quality they aid morals, they fupplf '^ 
them or they totally deftroy them. BurkjSc. 



( X9 ) 

not the time nor the means to enter into iaborioti^ 
refearches. Who then v/ould dry up the foun- 
tains of that facred inftruftion. which every where 
difleminates good principles, which brings them 
home to the bofom of every individual, which 
perpetuates them by a clofe conne&ion with per- 
manent and durable eftabliihments, and imparts 
to them that charafler of authority and popular* 
ity, without which, they would be unknown 
among men. 

Liften to the voice of all the virtuous citizens, 
v/ho, in the departm-cntal aiTemblies, have expref- 
fed their opinions, of what has pafied before their 
eyes during the laft ten years. 

*^ It is time, fay they ( Analyfis of the proces 
verbal of the Council general of the departments) 
that theories fiiould give way to facts. There can 
be no inftruftion without education : — there can 
be no education without morality and religion." 

*^ Our profeflbrs have taught in the wilder- 
nefs, becaufe it was unwifeiy proclaimed, that 
religion fhould not be mentioned in the fchools/^ 

" The inftrudion of the laft ten years has 
been of no efFecl, becaufe religion rnuft ever be 
the ground work of education." 

" Children have been let loofe to the moft 
dangerous idlenefs, to a ftatc of vagrancy the 
moft alarming." 

" They are utterly deftitute of any idea of the 
divinity, of any notion of juftice and injuftice. 



( 20 ) 

Thence have enfued favage and barbarous man- 
ners 5 thence might arife a wild ferocious people.^ 

*^ When we compare inftruftion as it is, 
with what it ought to be, we cannot refrain from 
horror at the deftiny allotted to the prefent, and, 
perhaps, future generations/' 

Thus, does all France invoke religion to the 
confervation of morality and fociety. 

Religious fentiments have contributed^ more 
^.han any other circumftance, to the civilization of 
mankind | we are rendered fociable, lefs by our 
opinions, than our afteftions, and is it not by 
the means of religious imprefiions, that the firft 
legifiators have endeavoured to moderate and con- 
trcul the human aiFeftions and paffions. 

There have been many pro&igate, and many 
worthlefs men who have built towns and founded 
empires. But it is ftill a ftroDger cafe, when we 
have before us the conduct and plans of men, 
who have formed great inftitutions and liberated 
nations. Of allthofe, there is not one, who has 
difdained to call in religion to the aid of civil 
polity, 

Thelawsof Minos, of Zaleucus, and thofeof 
the Tv/ELvp; tables are founded entirely on the 
fear of the Gods. Ci cero in his treatife upon laws, 
afnrms, that Divine Providence is the bafis of ail 
legiHation. In every page of his works, Plato 
refers to the Divinity. And Numa in order to 
give perpetuity to Rome, had it confecrated the 



ill 



{ 21 ) 

Holy City. It was not fraud, nor was it fuper- 
ftition, fays a great man, which caufed religion 
to be eftablifhed among the Romans : It was the 
neceffity which they felt, in common with all 
other focieties, to have one. The yoke of reli- 
gion, continues he, was the only one, which the 
people of Rome in their licentioufnefs and frenzy 
for liberty, dared not to throw ofF; and that 
people, who fo eafily became outrageous and 
furious, required an invifible power to controul 
them. 

The mifchief is, that men as they proceed in 
civilization, and in the benefits and advantages 
of every kind which arife from their advancement 
towards perfection, will not allow themfelves to 
think of the true caufes, to which they are in re- 
ality beholden for them: as in an immenfe tree, 
the innumerable branches and luxuriant foliage 
with which it is covered, hide the trunk, and 
prevent us from beholding the gay flowers, and 
abundant fruit which clufter underneath. 

But, for the good of my country, for the hap- 
piaefs of the exlfting generation, and for that of 
generations yet to come, I proclaim and affirm, 
that exceffive fcepticifm, and the fpirit of irreli- 
gion moulded into a fyflem of policy, approach, 
nearer than any thing elfe that can be imag- 
ined, to a ftate of barbarian. 

A whole nation muft not be judged by the 
very inconuderabie number of men, who fhine 



( ^^ ) 

in great cities. Clofe befide them, there exifts 
an immenfe population, who require to be go- 
verned, whom it is impoffible to enlighten, who 
are more fufceptible of impreffions than princi- 
ples, and who without the aids and reftraints of 
religion, would be ignorant of every thing but 
crimes and miferies. 

The inhabitants of our plains would foon pre- 
fent nothing better than hordes of favages, if 
living ifolated in an immenfe traft of country, 
religion, in calling them to churches, did not 
afford them frequent xjpportunities of affembling 
together, and difpofe them to enjoy the de- 
lights of focial intercourfe. 

Out of the towns and cities, it is the fpirit of 
religion alone which maintains and keeps alive 
iAit fpirit of fociety. The people affemble and 
reunite on the days of reft. By frequently meet* 
iiig, they contract a habit of mutual attachment 
and. good will. The young, endeavouring to at- 
traft notice, difplay a harmlefs archnefs, Avhich 
fweetens the manners without corrupting the 
heart. After fevere labour, they find, at the fame 
time, inftruftion and relaxation. Auguft cere- 
monies fttike their eyes, and impart to the foul 
the moft exquifite emotion5c Religious exercifes 
prevent the dangers of brutal idlenefs. On the 
approach of the religious folemnities, families be- 
come reunited ; enemies are reconciled ; even 
the abandoned experience fome remorfec The 



i\ 



( 23 ) 

dignity of man is felt and recognized. A com- 
mon fentiment is fermed^ far more fincere and 
fleady than that of great cities, where there is fo 
much of focietv, and fo little of true fellowftiip. 
How many deeds of micrcy and compaffion are 
infpired by devotion ! How many reftituticns and 
atonements exafted by the terrors of confcience. 
Take away, from the mafs of mankind, this reli- 
gion, what^vill you fubftitute in its place. If it is 
not pre-occupied by good, it will be filled with 
evil, the human heart and mind cannot remain 
void. 

Should religion become extinil, there would be 
no longer a country, no longer a fociety forthofe 
men, who in recovering their independence would 
find nothing left, but the power to abufe it. 

At what period do we find the queftion con. 
eerning the utility or necefFity of religious infti- 
tutions, fubmitted to the confideration of govern- 
ment? at that, when liberty has been accomplifh- 
ed, when all aSlicling inequalities are deftroyed, 
when power is moderated, and laws rendered 
mild and lenient^ Would it, under clrcumftan- 
ces like thefe,- become neceffary to ftifle and ex- 
tinguifh religious fentiments ? No ; it is in free 
ftates above all others that religion is neceffary. 
** It is for this reafon, (fays Polybius) that not 
being obliged to give a dangerous portion of 
prower, to certain men^ there muft exifl a greater 
fear of the Gods.'"' 



( 24 ) 

Go\"erniinent, then, could not entertain the 
icaft doubt or hefitation, as to the general princi- 
ple, on which it was to a£l, refpefting the arrange- 
ment of religious affairs* 

. Many circumftances hov/ever, were to be de« 
liberately weighed, in the application of that 
principle. 

The ftate of religion in France was, unfortu- 
nately, too well known, we are^in confequence, 
encompaiTed with wrecks, and with ruins. This 
fituation fuggefted to certain minds, the idea of 
profiting from exifting circumftances, and ereft- 
ing thereon a new religion, which they faid, 
would be better adapted to the intelligence, to the 
manners, and to the principles of liberty, which 
have prefided ever your republican eftablifh- 
ments. 

Religion, however, cannot be made, as laws 
are promulgated. The force of laws arifes from 
fear. The power of religion, only, from faith. 
But faith is not to be commanded. 

In the origin of things, in times of ignorance 
a?nd barbarifm, extraordinary men have been able 
to perfuade mankind, that they were infpired, and 
after the example of Prometheus, to draw down 
fire from heaven and animate a new world : but 
that, which it is pcffible to do with an infant people, 
would be imprafticable with experienced nations, 
whofe habits and fentiments, it is fear eel y poffible 
to change. 



t ^5 1 

Hnman lav/s, may derive advantage from their 
novelty, becaufe new laws often manifeft an in- 
tention to reform old abufes, and to produce foms 
new benefits : but in matters of religion, every 
thing that has the appearance of novelty bears the 
charadler of error and impofture. 

Antiquity is indifpenfably requifite to religious 
inftitutions, becaufe, with relation to thefe infti* 
tutions, faith is moie ftrong and more lively, in 
proportion as the things which are the objefts of 
that faith, are more remote in their origin. Be- 
caufe, we have not, in the compafs of our minds;» 
any fort of accelTory notions, drawn from diflant 
times, to contradict them. 

Above all, we believe in religion, becaufe, we 
fuppofe it to be the work of God. All is loft, 
if it is underftood to come from the hands of 
man. 

The voice of wifdom, therefore, directed: our 
government to flop at the religions which exiil, 
and which are fandlioned by the lapfe of time, ^ 
and the reverence of the people. 

For the religions, one part of which is known by 
the name of the catholic religion, and the other by 
that of the protejlant religion^ are both branches of 
^hriftianity. Now, what juft motive could ex- 
ift, for refolving on the policy of profcribing 
thefe chriftian w^orflbips. 

* Covered with the awful hoar of innumerable agese 

Burke* 
D 



( 26 ) 

It appears very extraordinary, that it fhould at 
this day be a matter of confideration, whether a 
ftate can accommodate itfelf to chriftianity, 
which, for fo many ageSj conftituted the founda- 
tion of every religion, profeffed by the pclifhed 
and enlightened nations of Europe. One is ftill 
more furprized when he reflefls upon all the cir« 
cumftances attending it. 

On the reftoration of letters, Chriftianity fuf- 
tained a great fliock. The new lights which 
beamed forth at this epoch, dire£led attention to 
the abufes and diforders mto which it had fallen. 
Ardent minds engaged in the diflcuffion. Am* 
bition interfered, made war on men inftead of 
regulating things, and in the midft of the moft 
violent commotions, occafioned that great fchifm, 
which has fmce divided chriftian Europe. 

In our days, when the French Revolution 
broke out, a great fermentation again manifefted 
itfelf. It extended to more objeftsthan religious 
creeds. Ithasfifted all eftabliflied inftitutions, 
demanded an account of their motives, fufpe£ted 
all of fraud and fervility, and as, in all fimilar ca- 
fes, extremes are adopted becaufe they appear to 
be moft decifive, it was fuppofed, that the only 
way to eradicate fuperftition and fanaticifm, 
was to attack all religious inftitutions. 

You perceive then, what are the circumftan- 
ces, which render it ufeful and necefiary to com- 
pare thofe inftitutions which adhere to Chriftian- 



( 27 ) 

ity, ^^'i^h our marxtiers, with cur philofophyj and 
with our new political inftitutions. 

When chriftianity became eftablifliedj the 
world appeared to afTume a new attitude. The 
precepts of the gofpel imparted true morality to 
the univerfe. From its doftrines, the people^ 
who became chriftians, experienced the fati^fac- 
tion, of having been fufficiently enlightened to 
embrace a religion, which in fome fort vindicated 
the Deity, and the human mind, from that fpe- 
cies of humiliation attached to the abominable 
ftupid fuperftitions of idolaters. 

On the other hand, chriftianity, to the fpirit- 
ual truths, the chief obje£ls which it inculcated, 
added all the fenlible ideas which conftitute part 
of its worfhip^ The zeal of men was therefore 
extreme for that new worfhip, which appeals at 
once to reafon and the fenfes. 

The falutary influence of the chriftian religion 
on the manners of Europe, and of all countries 
where it has made its way, has been remarked by 
all writers. If the m.aiiner's compafs has opened 
the univerfe, it is chriftianity that has rendered 
it fociablc. 

It has been aiked, whether in the courfe of its 
influence, the chriftian religion has never been 
made a pretext for quarrels, or for wars ? whether, 
it has never aided to fupport defpotifm^ and to 
embroil ftatcs? whether, it has never produced 
anthufiafts and fanatics ? and whether, its min- 



i 2b j 

iftcrs liave conftantly employed their folicitade 
and their labors to promote the greateft happinefs 
offociety? 

But what IS that inftitution, that has never been 
abufed ? what is that good, which has ever exifted 
without a mixture of evil ? where is the nation, 
wheVe is the government, where is the body of 
men, where is the individual man, who could 
Hand the rigorous inquifition of that formidable 
reckoning, which has been demanded from chrif- 
tian pricftso 

It would be inequitable then, to judge the 
chriftian religion and its minifters, by a criterion 
cbvioufly repugnant to good faith. "We forget 
that men abufe every things and that the minifters 
of religion are but men. 

The only queftion for a juft and rational man 
to afk, is, can chriftianity in itfelf, to which we 
are indebted for the ineftimable bleffing of civili^ 
zation^ dill conduce to the benefit of our man- 
ners, of our^rogrefs in the focial arts, of the pre« 
fent ftate of every thing. 

The queftion, xertainly, is not unanfwerable, 
and it deeply concerns the people, and the cha- 
rafler of government^ that itfliould be refolved^ 

Theologians without philofophy, and prejudi.- 
ced philofophers, have been equally blind to the 
profound wifdom of chriftianity. One ought t© 
underftand, however, that, which he attacks, and 
that^ which he defends. 



{ 29 ) 

As religious inftituticns are fubje£ts of the ut- 
moft confequencc to public happinefs, and as they 
may be made produftive of the greateft bleffings, 
or perverted to the greateft evils, it is proper, that 
a ftate fhould know, once for all, to v^hich it ought 
to attach itfelf, and which it may be expedient or 
dangerous to cherifh. 

But chriftianity has never encroached upon the 
imprefcriptible rights of human reafon. It de- 
clares that the earth has been (hared among the 
children of men ; it refigns the world to men and 
their difputes, and all nature to their refearchcs. 
It lays down rules for the promotion of virtue^ 
but it prefcribes no limits to genius. Whilft, in 
Afia, and other places, the moft grofs fuperftiti- 
ons reftrained the aftive exertions of the mind., 
and clogged the efforts of induftry 5 by means of 
chriftianity, the nations which profeffed it, have 
univerfally multiplied the ufeful arts, and exten- 
ded the boundaries of fcience 

There are countries, where elegant tafte has 
never yet obtained footing, becaufe it has con- 
ftantly been repelled by religious prejudices. 
There, the confinement and fervitude of the fe- 
male fex, prevent the improvement of focial in- 
tercourfe, and confequently blaft all the delight- 
ful refinements of life. There, printing is prohi- 
bited. In other places, the painting or fculpture 
of animated beings are forbidden Every mo- 
mitnt of life, fentiment receives a falfe dire£iioUj 



( 30 ) 

and the imagination holds a perpetual conflict 
with the phantoms of a=^cheated confcience. 

But in chriftian nations, letters and the elegant 
arts have always had an alliance with religlonj 
It is religion, that by fetting the foul in motion, 
and infpiring the moft exalted thoughts, has given 
a new flight to talents. It is religion, which has 
produced our firft and moft celebrated orators, 
furnifhed fubje£ls and models for our poets, 
guided the pencils of our greateft painters, and 
the chiflels of our heft fculptors, and to which 
we are indebted for the moft magnificent fpeci- 
mens of architefture. 

Can we regard, as irreconcileable with our un- 
derftanding and our manners, a religion which 
the Descartes and the Newtons, and fo many 
otherilluftriousmen conceived themfelves honored 
by profeffing; which unfolded the genius of Pas- 
cal, and BossuET, and which perfefted the foul 
of Fenelon ? 

Can we forget the influence of chriftianity on 
human comfort and happinefs, without cafting 
away from us all our beft works of every kind, 
and condemning them to oblivion ; without effa- 
cing and overturning the monuments of our ap- 
propriate glory } 

In morality, is it not the chriftian religion 
which has tranfmitted to us the whole body of 
natural law ? Does it not inftrudl us in every 
thing that is juft, eve/y thing that is holy^ every 



( 3t ) 

thing that is lovely ? In recommending univerfal 
love and good will among men, and in railing us 
to one creator, has it net laid down the principle 
of all good ? Has it not opened the moft genuine 
fource and pureft fountain of manners ? 

If the whole body of a nation, if minds the 
moft fimple and uninftrufted, are at this day 
better eftablifhed, than were the Socrates's and 
the Platos of former times, in the great truths 
of the unity of God, of the imm.ortality of the 
foul, and of the exiftence of a life to come ; are 
we not wholly indebted for it, to chriftianity ? 

This religion propounds certain doftrines, but 
tlrcfe doftrines are not arbitrarily fubftituted in 
the room of thofe, which found metaphyfical 
morality would enforce or demonftrate. It does 
not dethrone reafon from its office, to ufurp its 
place, but it fills that void, which reafon leaves 
behind it, which the human imagination, let 
loofe without reftraint, would inconteftabiy fill 
in a much worfe manner. 

Finally, there exifts in the chriftian religion 
a priefthood, and all nations, not abfolutely bar- 
barous, have recognized a diftincl clafs of men 
peculiarly confecrated to the fervice of the Di- 
vinity. 

The inftitution of the priefthood among chrift- 
ians has for its objeft, inftru£lion only, and the 
offices of worihip. The civil and political orders 
remain totally diftincl from the mlnifters of are- 



( 32 ) 

ligion, which has not fanftioned any particular 
form of government, which commands pontiffs 
themfelves, even as fimple citizens, to refpe£t 
all men, as having for their objeds the tranquil- 
ity of the prefent life, and as being all included 
in the defigns of God the creator and preferver 
of the focial order. 

Such is cbriftianity in itfelf ; than which, it h 
impoffible for the human imagination to conceive, 
a religion better adapted to all polifhed nations, 
and to the policy of all governments.* 

This religion offers nothing purely local, noth- 
ing that can limit its influence, to a particular 
age or to a particular country. It ftands forth 
not as the religion of a people, but as the reli- 
gion of mankind j net as the religion of a coun- 
try, but as the religion of a world. 

After having recognized the L«tility and neceffi- 
ty of religion in general, the government of 
France could not rationally abjure chriftianity^ 

* An idle falfe notion has ion^' prevaikdj that liber- 
ty and eatholicirm were incompat.ble— -That the catho- 
lic religion wherever it prevailed, mud nec^'J/ariij be the 
jiurfe of defpotifm. How iguoiant of the hiliory of 
their own day inun: thofe be, who think fo ! They mult 
of courfe know nothing of Switzerlandj where iiberty 
ani catholicifm. are clofely conne(5ted. Are not the 
cathol C3 of Maryland as good citizens, as much at- 
tached to the principles of the American Revolution, 
and as warm adherents to the conftituUons of their own 
State and of the United StatcSj as tbofe cl any oth^f 
State in the Union I 



ii 



( 33 ) 

which of all pofitlve religions, has been proved 
to be the beft accommodated to our philoibphy 
and to our manners. 

All religious inftltutions have been cverthroM^n 
and deftroyed, during the outrages of the revo. 
lution. But when we contemplate the brilliant 
virtues, which {hone forth in the mid ft of fuch 
diforders, when we recal the calm and moderate 
conduft of the far greater part, indeed the bulk 
of the people, how can we refrain from acknow- 
ledging, that thofe inftltutions were ftill deeply- 
rooted in the hearts and underftandings, and v/ere 
kept alive by the fortunate habits, which the bet- 
ter fort of people had contracted, from the chrif- 
tain faith, its worfliip, and its exereifes. France 
has been dreadfully defolated, but what muft 
have been her fate, if thofe habits had not, im«* 
perceptibly to ourfelves, ferved as a counterpoife 
againft the outrages of our paffions. 

Piety founded all our charitable inftltutions, 
and piety fupporlred them : what have we done, 
when after a general devaftation, we thought o€ 
re-ePabli{hing our hofpitals ? we have called 
in the aid of thofe chriftian virgins, known by 
the name of Soeurs de la charite,* who 
have fo nobly and fo generoufly devoted them- 
fclves to the fervice of their fellow creatures, in* 

* Soeurs dt chariter, Beguincs or Nuns, -sv ho devote 
their lives in attending, nurfing, and healing the fick, 
from a mixed, principle of compallion and piety ^^ 



( 34 ) 

misfortune, in infirmity and in dlftrefs. It can* 
not be felf love, it cannot be vain glory, it can- 
not be the hope of being rewarded by human ap- 
plaufe, that could prompt them to virtues and 
aftlons, in themfelves extremely painful, ex- 
tremely laborious, and extremely difgufting. They 
muft have views, exalted far above man, or this 
world. It is impoflible for them to find motives 
of encouragement, and zeal to perform fuch 
a£tIons, but in that piety, Vv'hich animates and ' 
enlivens beneficence ; which divorces them from 
the vanities of the world, and which makes them 
feel in the advancement of public happinefs, fuch 
confolation, as reafon of itfelf, could never im- 
part. 

On the other hand, it is well knov/n from 
forrov/ful experience, that mercenaries, who have 
no internal confcientious motives to impel and 
attach them to their duty, are but poorly, if at 
all, qualified to fill the place cf perfons animated 
by the fpirit of religion, and influenced by that 
principle, which is fuperior to natural fentiment, 
and which alone being competent to incite to 
every facrifice, has, alone, the pov/er to make us 
encounter every difgufl, and brave every danger. 

When we witnefs fuch virtues, it feems to us 
as if we beheld a beam of celeftial glory irradiat- 
ing the earth. What then, can we hope to keep 
thofe virtues in confer vation, by draining and 
drying up the fountain from which they fiov/ ? 



( 35 > 

Let US not deceive ourfelves, it is religion alone 
which can thus fill up the vaft immenfityef fpace 
between God and man. 

Perhaps, it will be imagined, that civil policy 
would do enough, by leaving open a free ccurfe 
to religious opinions, and by abfiaining from 
giving diilurbance to thofe v/ho profefs them. 
But, I aflj:, whether fuch a meafure, which pro- 
pofes nothhig pcHtive, which is no more, to ufe 
the expreflion, than a mere negative expedient, 
could ever efFeti the purpofes or accompli fn the 
ends, which a wife government ought to have 
in view ? 

Without doubt, the liberty which v/e have 
acquired, and the philofophy which enlightens 
us, would not know how to reconcile itfelf to the 
idea of a predominant religion in France, ftill 
lefs to that of an exclufive religion. 

I call that an exclufive religion, th^ public 
worfiiip of which is authorized, to the exclufion 
of every other worfnip. Such, as amongft us, 
was the catholic religion in the laft ages of the 
monarchy. 

I call that a predomiinant religion, v/hich is 
intimately connecled vv^ith the ftate, and which 
in the political order enjoys certain privileges, that 
are refufed to other worfliips, the public exercife 
of w^hich is neverthelefs authorized ; fuch was 
the catholic religion in Poland, and fuch is the 
Greek church in Ruilia. 



( 36 } 

But a religion may be prote£Ved without being 
made predominant or exclufive. To proteft a 
religion is to put it under the segis of the lav/s ^ 
to prevent its being perfecuted, to guarantee to 
thofe who profefs it, the full enjoyment of all 
the fpiritual benefits, they promife themfelves to 
derive from it, in the fame manner as it guaran- 
tees to them the fecurity of their pcrfons and 
.properties. In the fimple hypcthefis of Pro- 
tection, there is nothing exclufive, nothing 
predominant; for a ftate may protefl many rdi- 
gions, nay, it mayproteft every religion. 

I grant, that a fyftem. of protection difi^ers ef. 
fentially from that fyftem of neutrality and con- 
tempt, which has been fo falfely dignified with 
the name of toleration. The;%crd toleration, 
in matters of religion, ought no! to be taken in 
the injurious meaning which is given to it, when 
it is employed with reference to the abufes which 
ought to be profcribed, and from which every eye 
ought to be averted. 

Religious toleration is a virtue, a duty from 
man to man ; in public rights, it is the refpeft of 
government for the confcience of its citizens, and 
for the objefts of their veneration and faith. 
This refpeS ought not to be illufory. but, never- 
thele fs, illufory it mufc be, if it produces no efreft 
of ufefulnefs or confolation. 

After what we have already had occafion toci-^ 



( 37 ) 

tablifh, we cannot but feel, how much the aid of 
religion is necelTary to the happinefs of man. 

Independent of ail the moral benefits, which 
we have a right to promife ourfelves, from the 
proteftion, which I implore for religious inftitu- 
tions ; let us keep in mind, that, good order and 
public fecuritv, forbid ehofe inftitutions being 
abandoned to themfelves. The ftate can have no 
hold upon the eftabUfhments nor upon the men, 
whom it would treat as ftrangers to it. A fyf- 
tem of reafonable fuperintendence ever the re- 
fpeclive worlhips, cannot be afferted, but by a well 
devifed legal organization. Without this organi- 
zation, avowed and authorized, ail fuperintendence 
would be fruitkfs or unattainable, becaufe, the 
government wolild have no real guarantee for the 
good conduct of thofe, who might profefsobfcure 
modes of v/orfliip, of which the laws would 
have no privity, and which by their invinbility, if 
I may be allov/ed the expreiTion, would aKvays 
evade the power of the lawso 

The particular circumftances under which we 
exift, give force to thefe confiderations. 

It has been feen in the events of the revolu* 
tion, that catholicifm has been the principal ob- 
jctk of all the attacks, which have been made 
on religious eftabiifnments ; this is not at all 
furpriting. The catholic had always been the 
predominant religion, it had become exclufive, by 
the revocation of the ediil; of Nantes, and it un- 



( 38 ) 

dervv^ent the fufpicion rr reprosch cf having 
caufed that revocation^ v/hich ws$ attended with 
fuch fatalconftquences to France. A religion, 
which was fufpedted of being the oppreiTor, be- 
jcame in its turn the cppreffed, when circum- 
fiances atForaed an opportunity for retaliation. 
To this leading circumftance it may be added, 
that the clergy enjoyed a political rank, intimate- 
ly ccnne£led with the monarchy that was over- 
thrown J and the violence, v/ith which catholi- 
cifm was treated, was more fuiicus, becaufe its 
perfecutors thought themfelves authorized, to 
hunt it down, lefs as a religion, than as a tyranny. 
But violence, and the nev/ plans of ecclefiafti- 
cal policy, which were countenanced by that vio-^ 
lence, produced nothing but the moil fhameful 
fchifms, which difturbed all France, and v/hlch 
ftill continue to difturb it. 

In fuch a ftate of things, what was to be 
done ? 

Would it have been confident with found 
policy, v/ifdom, or humanity, to continue the 
perfecutions which had been fet on foot, againil 
thofe who refifled innovations. 

Force is ineffetlual when applied to the mind | 
confcience is the mod intraclable of all the mora! 
fenfes. In religious affairs, violence is inopera- 
tive, except as the means of deftruflion. When 
a government, with intention to fubdue exalted 
fouls, would put tliQ rewards and menaces of 



( 39 ) 

law, in oppofition to the rewards and menaces 
of religion, it occafions its own authority to be 
called in queftion ; the terror which it endeavours 
tot infpire, compels the foul to recoil on objcfts^, 
which i;nprefs it with fill! greater terror. Amidft 
thefe horrible convulfions, fanaticlfm collefts all 
its energies. The mind is fuftained by its own 
fanaticifm, and derives its aliment from itfelf. 

Has not our own experience amply dernonftrat- 
ed, that perfecution has never had any other fuc- 
cefs, than that of caufmg the fplrit of religion 
to degenerate into the fpirit of fectarlfm ? Ter- 
rors and punilhments are fuppofed to augment 
the number of good citizens^ when in fact, they 
only diminifli the nuinber of men. 

For my part, I confider every fyftcm of perfe- 
cution, to be evidently and entirely incompatibfe 
^ith the actual exifting ftate of France, 

Under abfolute governments, or where arbi- 
trary will and caprice, rather than law, bear 
fway, people's minds are very little, if at all 
alarmed at an aft of defpotifm, merely as an aft 
of defpotifm. Be it this or that exertion of 
tyranny, the thing is not new to them. But in 
a government, which has promifed to protect ci- 
vil and religious liberty, every aft of hoflility ex- 
ercifed agalnit one or mere claiTes of citizens, on 
account of their mode of worfhip, will anfwer no 
ether purpoie, than that of producing convulfions 
in the ftate. They fee ctheis enjoying a liberty^ 



( 40 ) 

which is denied to themfelves : fuch unjuft rigor 
becomes infupportable to them : they grow more 
violent, becaufe they think themfelves more un- 
fortunate than others. Let us refleft, that the 
feelings of men are never more deeply wounded, 
than when they find the cbje£ls of their refpecl, 
and the articles of their faith, profcribed and for- 
bidden. It is then, that they are made to experi- 
ence the mod infupportable, galling, and humili- 
ating of all prufcriptionSf 

Morever, what have we gained up to this very 
day, by profcribing whole clafles of the minifters 
of the gofpel, the far greater part of whom, were 
diftinguifhed among their fellow citizens, for be- 
neficence and virtue ? why, we have gained only 
this; we have foured and exafperatcd the feelings 
of the moft moderate ; we have cccafioned the 
benefits of liberty to be called in quefhion, by gi- 
Ting it the odious afpefl:, of cutting oflF catholic- 
France, from free France. 

No doubt, there are prieils, who are turbulent 
and fa£lious i but there are other priefts, who 
are not fo. By pgrfecu<:ion, they are all confoun- 
ded together. The fa£lious and turbulent will 
avail themfelves of the circumftance, to ufurp the 
Gonfequence which is due only to the truly good ; 
they will be looked upon as the viftims of oppref- 
fion and misfortune: and misfortune has ever 
fomething facred about it, which never fails t<? 
command pity and refpefu 



( 41 ) 

In the place of public congregations fuperinten- 
ded by the civil police, which can never be dan- 
gerous, we (hall have fecret conventicles, and 
plots concerted in the dark. Every profligate 
hardened villain will plume himfelf upon his cou- 
rage, and cajole and cheat the people, with a dif- 
play of the dangers with which they will be 
furrounded. Thefe dangers will ftand to them, 
in the place of virtues, and the very plans Vv^hich, 
we flattered ourfelves, were fo well devifed, as 
to prevent the multitude from being feduced, will 
themfelves become the moft dire£l and eftectual 
means of fedu6lion. 

Yet further, (hall we tarnifh this glorious epoch, 
by confolidating into a ftate fyftem, meafures of 
cruelty, which our underftandings difallow, and 
which are entirely repugnant to the urbanity oi 
Frenchmen ? fhall we tarnifli philofophy itfelf, 
upon our title to which, we fo j.uftly value our- 
felves ? and fliall we proclaim to the world, that 
the intolerance of philofophy has taken place of 
that, which v/as called facerdotal intolerance ? 

Government, therefore, has felt, that ail fyft- 
ems of perfecution are impratlicable, impolitic, 
and unwife. 

It is expedient, then, to decline interfering 
with modes of worfhip, to continue thofe mea- 
fures of indifference and negie£l, which it ap- 
pears have been adopted, every time that revolu- 
tionary meafures arc relaxed ? this plan of pro- 

F 



( 42 ) 

ceeding is certainly preferable to perfecutionrbut 
is it not pregnant with inconveniencics and dan- 
gers of another kind ? 

The catholic religion is certainly the religion of 
the far greater majority of France. 

To abandon fuch a powerful inftrument, would 
be to inftrucl the firft ambitious man, or the firil 
knave, who might be defirous to throw France 
into tumult and didraftion, to feize upon snd di- 
rect it againft his country. 

We have as yet fcarcely terminated the great- 
eft revolution recorded in the hiftory of the unl- 
verfe. "Who is there, that does not know, that in 
the fury of political hurricanes, juft as in the 
rnidft of great natural calamities, the greater part 
of the people, impelled by all the horrors which 
furround them, to take refuge in the'promifes 
and confoiations of religion, are more than ever 
difpofed to piety and even to fuperftition ? Who 
does not know the facility with which, in fuch 
critical times, they receive prediftion?, the moil 
abfurd prophecies, every thing that can impart 
flattering hopes of the future, every thing that 
bears the ftamp of marvellcusy every thing that 
has a probable tendency in the vIciiEtudes of 
human affairs, to put into their hands the means 
of vengeance, or of the vindication of their fuf- 
ferings ? Who is he too that does not knew, 
that minds broken down by public events, are 
more than any others, fubject to become tlie 



( 43 } 

dupes of falfehood and impofture ? Is it at fucli 
a moment, that a well advlfed government would f^ 
Gonfent to run the rifk^ of feeing the great and 
powerful fpring of religion fall into the hands of 
fufpicious perfons or enemies. 

In times of profound tranquility, it is the in- 
terefl of governments to retain in their hands the 
direction of religious airairs. which have always 
been ranked by the codes of different nations^ 
amongft thofe objeifts, which peculiarly belong 
to the high police of the ftate. 

A ftate pofliiTes but a very precarious authority, 
when it contains within the limits of its territo- 
ry, any men, v/ho exercife a great influence over 
minds and over confciences, unlefs thofe men be- 
long, at leaft in fome relation or other, to the 
ftate.. 

The authorization of a particular worfnip, ne- 
ceiTarily fuppofes, reciprocal conditions^ accord- 
ing to which they, who profefs that vvorfhip, 
bind themfelyes to the fociety, and that fociety 
promifes to authorize and protect them. Public 
tranquility can never be fecured^ if care_ be not 
taken, to know what fort of men the minifters 
■of the gofpel are, what are their charafters, what 
it is that diftinguifnes them from iimple citizens, 
and from minifters of other worfliips : and what 
the difcipline is, under v/hich they mean to live, 
-nd the regulations they promife to obferve. 
ihe ftate is menaced, if thofe regulations can be 



( 44 ) 

made or changed without its concurrence ; if it be 

a ftranger, or indifferent to the form and the con-. 
ftitution of government propofed for the cure of 
fouls, and if the fidelity of inferiors be not guar- 
anteed by the fidelity of fuperiors, legally' recog- 
nized and avowed. 

The moft ftricl and holy religion may be abut 
ed. Will the man, deftincd to preach it, abufe 
it, or will he not abufe it ? Will he make it a 
bleffing, or will he make it a curfe ? Thefe are 
queftions, to refolve which it is natural enough 
to aik, what fort of a man he is, to what fide 
his interefl leans, what his fentiments are, or 
how he has hitherto applied his talents, or ferved 
in his miniftry ? It is neceffary, therefore, that 
the ftate fhouid be, before-hand, acquainted with 
thofe, who are candidates for employment in 
the church. It muft not fupinely wait, to fee 
what ufe they v/ill make of their influence, after 
admiffion : it rnuft not content itfelf with vain 
forms, or idle prefumptions, when it is engaged 
in providing for the confervation of itfelf, and 
for the fecurity of the ftate. 

It is plain then, that it is only by following 
with refpect to the different v/orfliips, a courfe 
of enlightened protection, that we can arrive at a 
well combined fyftem of ufeful fuperintendence : 
for we have already obferved, that to protect a 
particular mode of worfhip, is not to make it 
predominant or exclufive ; it is only to keep z 



( 45 ) 

Vigilant eye over its doftrines, and its internal 
police, fo that the ftate may direft an inflitution 
offach vaft importance, to the great objefts of 
public ^ood ; may prevent the minifters from 
corrupting the doctrines confided to them to 
teach, and from (baking off, at their pleafure, 
the yoke of difcipline, to the infinite prejudice 
of individuals, and to the danger of the ftate at 
large. 

Government, feeling the neceffity of interfer- 
ing dire£lly in religious aifairs, as a fuperintend- 
ing prcteftor, and taking mto confideration the 
abufes and fchifms, which defolated the catholic 
worfhip profeffed by a great majority of the 
Prench nation, immediately adopts proper means 
to cxtinguifli thefe fchifms, and to put a flop to 
thefe abufes. 

A fchifm, IS, in its very nature, the germ of 
diforder, which aflumes a thoufand different 
iliapes, and poflefles the powers of infinite pro- 
pagation and perpetuity. Incumbents, the anti- 
tnt^ the modern, and the new, have each their 
followers and difciples, in the fame diocefe, in the 
fame parifii, and often in the fame family. Thefe 
forts of diffenfions are much more melancholy 
than any that could arife from doftrines, becaufe, 
hydra-like, every change of paftors may inftantly 
reproduce them. 

On the other hand, all religious diffenfions have 
a charafter peculiarly appropriate to themfelves. 



'( 46 ) 

In ordinary difputes, fays a modern pnllofoplier, 
as each party feels he may be deceived, feh-wijl 
and obftinacy are not carried to extremes; ,but 
in thofe about religion, as, from the very nature 
of the ^fubjefc, each thinks himfelf fare that his 
own opinion is right, we ?-re outrageouily indig- 
nant againft thofe, vv^ho, inftead of conforming to 
our opinions, obftinately pcrfiftin infifling en our 
coming over to theirs. 

After thefe reflexions, it mufl be evident, that 
-theologians, if refigned to themfelves, could never 
accommodate their differ ences. Fortunately the 
catholic ecclefiaftics acknowledge a chief, a point 
of union in the pontiff of Rome; his interventioa 
therefore, becomes neceiTary to terminate difputes, 
which would otherwife be interminable. 

Hence arofe the determination of government, 
:tG come to an underilanding with the Holy See. 

The civil conftitution of the clergy, decreed 
^by the conftituent airembly, cannot be an obftacle, 
iince that conftitution is no longer in exiftence : 
it v/as impoffible to revive it, without perpetua- 
ting that fchifm v/hich ought to be extinguiihed. 
The re-e(labli{hment of peace, however, was the 
.grand objeft, and it v/as fuiBcient, if the means of 
that re-eilablifhment were com.bined with the po- 
licy of the ftate, and with the rights of the em^ 

Care muft doubtlefs be tat^j^ t^: fecure our- 
:felv.es fromi trans-alpine notiona^ and from falling 



( 47 ) 

under the domination of the court cf Rome: 
the independence of catholic France is guaran- 
teed by the invaluable treafufy of our ancient 
liberties. 

The in8aence of the Pope, reduced within its 
proper bounds, was never obferved to be injurious 
to the civil government cf the country : if, fome- 
times, it became expedient to advance the rights 
of the biihops, in order to weaken that influence, 
it v/as at other times found neceiTary. to rcftore 
that influence, and to give it authorit}^, againft 
the abufes of their rights, committed by the 
bifhops. 

Generally, it m.uft be alv/ays fortunate to have 
canonical as v^^ell as civil., means^ of appeafing 
relip-ious diflenfions. 

The principles of catholicifm do/not, like thofe 
of lutheranifm, allow the chief of every political 
itate, to declare himfelf the head of the church : 
and one would fuppofe that, in the principles of 
a found conftitution, fuch an union of "fpiritual 
and temporal powers in the fame hands, cannot 
be altogether fafe or innoxious to the caufe of 
liberty. 

Hillory informs us, that irr certain occurrencesj 
catholic nations have eftablifhed patriarchs or 
primates, to weaken or to diffipate the direft 
Influence of a foreign fuperior. But fuch a mea-- 
fure was- wholly impradllcable in our circumftan- 
ces ; nor has it ever been employedj but in thofe 



( 48 ) 

ftates which had privity with a national church, 
whofe minifters were not divided againft each 
other, but who united their own efforts to thofe 
of their government, to affert their independence. 
Befides, it is not certain that it would be more 
beneficial to a ftate, the majority of which arc 
catholics, to have v/ithin its own territory a par- 
ticular head of that religion, than to correfpond 
with the general head of the church. 

The head of a particular religion, whoever he 
may be, is not an unimportant perfonage. If he 
is ambitious, he may become a confpirator ; he 
has the means, or he may make them, of difturb- 
ing the public mind ; and when he refifts the 
fecular power, in the opinion of the people he 
calls it in queftion. Diffentions which arife 
between the priefthood and the empire, are al- 
ways of an extremely ferious nature. The 
church, which has its chief always prefent, forms 
in reality a ftate within the itate,* v/hich as 
occafion offers, may even become a faftion. — 
l\'otaing of this kind is to be apprehended from a 
foreign chief, whom the people never fee, in 
whom they cannot, naturally, repofs as great 
confidence, as they can in a national pontiff 5 who 
in the manners, the character, and the principles 
of a nation, to which he does not belong, meets 
every obR:acle to the extenfion of his authority : 

* Impel iurn m unperio, one of th^ greatcft evils thut 
can bcfai a nation. 



r 49 ) 

who cannot manlfeft aivy extraordinary prefen- 
fiGHS, without fetting in motion, on every quar- 
ter, competitions and jealoufies : who is perpetu- 
ally divefted from every idea cf particular domino 
ation, by the cares and difficulties of his univcv« 
fal adniiniftratien : who can always reftrift and 
coniiiie himfelf to the means which the law of 
nations allows, means, which well managed, 
have only an external luftre, and thereby exempt- 
us from the danger and fcandal of a war, at 
once civil and religious. 

The governments of catholic countries, are 
rarely fuppiied v/ith the authority and prefence 
of a nation?! pontift; they prefer the authority 
of a chief at a diftance, w^hofe voice is but feebly 
heard, and who has the greateft intereft in 
preferving the refpecl and attachment of powers^, 
whofe protection is neceffaiy to him. 

In thofe coman unions, which do not acknowl- 
edge an univerfai chief, the political magiilrate 
poiTeiTes the funfticns and quality of head of the 
church, 'fo convinced are they, that the exercife 
of the civil powder would be traverfed and contra- 
vened, if there were in the fame territory two 
chiefs^ one for the priefthood, and the other of 
the empire, who might divide the homage of the 
people, and even fometimes render, their obedi- 
^ce doubtful Is it not then fortunate, tb?.t 
an order of things can be devifed, which ftrength* 

G ■ '• ' 



( so ) 

ens tlie power without menacing the liberty of 
the nation ? 

In the fituation, therefore^ in which we itand^ 
having recpurfe to the general head cf the church, 
was a meafure much more wife, than that of 
erefting a particular head of the catholic church 
for France. Indeed it was the only poffible 
meafure that could with fafety be adopted. 

To inveft the chief magiftrate in France with 
the facerdotal jurifdiftion, would have changed" 
the religious fyilem of a great majority of the 
French people. It was done in Enghndj becaufe, 
the minds of the people were prepared for that' 
change: but we could not hope, that it would' 
meet amongft us, with the fam.e difpofitions. 

It requires no very extraordinary fagacity, to 
peri:eive the refemblances which exift between 
the two revolutions ; they ftrike every eye. But' 
to form a found judgment of the circumftances 
which diftinguiih them^ to perceive the difrerence* 
betv/een them, requires a perfpicacious well ex- 
ercifed difcernment, a mind at once judicious, 
difcriminating and profound. 

To affimilate throughout, the events of the re->^ 
v-olution' of England, with thofe of the French 
revolatian, w^uld be a vain attempt. 

In Engrand, the revolution took place in con- 
fequence, indeed in the midft, of the mofb furi- 
ous religious dlfienfions, which communicated to- 
the people's minds thdt degree of energy and cour- 



( 5^ ) 

...age, -^^'hich was neceffary to attack and overturn 
their governaient. 

In France, on the contrary, the manners and 
principles of the people, had already, for a long 
time, been flruggling with religion, v/hich was 
found at laft replete with the abufes, that had 
iron} time to time been introduced into it;. 

In England, they were not fo imprudent as to 
plunder the clergy of tkeir property, before they 
demanded from them the facrifice of their difci- 
pline and of their hierarchy. 

In France, every thing was extorted from the 
clergy, after its being ftripped even of the refuge 
cf hope and of confidence. 

In England, there was a confllft between dif- 
ferent religious opinions, but the ftate, which 
felt the neceffity of being propped by religion, 
attached itfelf to that religious party, which pro- 
te£led liberty, which received proteftion in re- 
turn, and which ended in placing the conftitu- 
lion under the powerful guarantee of religion 
itfelf. 

In France, where, after the deflruftion of the 
ancient clergy, every thing confpired to debafe 
the new, who fupplied the place of the former, 
every confcience was up in arms againfh the 
ft^te. 

It is neceflary to obferve that in thefe troubles 
and dlffenfions, every advantage was, very natur- 
ally, found on the fide of the opinions^ which fo 



( 52 ) 

niaich pains had been taken to profcribe : for the 
conduct which had been obfervcd towards thofe 
wdio embraced the new opinions, had entirely 
difparaged them, and ferved to augment the gen- 
eral refpeft for the adherents of the antient faith j 
and the people acquired a frefh fanftion from the 
courage of their minifters, who were declared 
their defenders. For in morals, we love> if net 
for ourfelves, at leaft for others, every thing 
that indicates energetic effort: and in matters of 
religion, v/e are led to give full credit to the tef- 
timony of thofe, who have fubmitted to death 
and fuffered martyrdom, in its caufe. 

There is a grand maxim of ftate, confecrated 
by the opinion and adoption of thofe, who bed 
underftand the principles of government ; it is, 
^^ that no attempt ought ever to be made, to change 
an eftablifhed religion, that is deeply rooted in 
the hearts, minds, and manners of a people, 
when that religion has been able to fuftain itfelf, 
againft all the occurrences and tempefts of a great 
revolution." 

If a government poffeffes the humanity not to 
-torture the confciences of men, it becomes 
good policy, to fpare in a country thofe inftitu- 
tions and thofe religious maxims, which have for 
a long time clung to the habits of the people, 
which are interwoven with all their ideas, which 
frequently compofe the whole of their morals, 
^^nd which conilitute a part of their very cxifleBcCa 



{ 53 ) 

Government, therefore, could not offer to 
make any alterations in the hierarchy of the ca« 
tholic minifters, without provoking new diforders 
and infurmountable difHculties. 

It appears from the analyfis of the proces ver- 
bal of the council general of the departments, that 
a great majority of the French retain the catholic 
worfnip. That in certain departments, " the 
inhabitants are attached to that religion, as much 
as to life itfelf -^ that it is neceflary to fmother all 
religious diffenfions ; that the country people 
love, very greatly, their religion ; that they la* 
ment the abrogation of the day of refl confecrat- 
ed by their religion ; that they regret the lofs of 
thofe days, when in f N,veet communion, they wor« 
ihipped God together ; that their churches were 
to them places, v/here bufmefs, neceflary inter- 
courfe, and mutual afFe£lion united all their fami- 
lies, and cherifne'd among them peace and har- 
mony ; that a becoming deference to religious 
opinions, is the fureft and mod powerful means 
of winning over the people to a refpeft for the 
laws ; that the love which the French have for 
the religion of their ancefi:Grs, cannot be a fubjeft 
of alarm to government, feeing that religion is 
fabordinate to the civil power , that the minifters, 
in their pulpits, offer up prayers for government 5 
that they have rendered thankfgivings in acknowl- 
edgment of the peace ; that they all preach obe- 
dienge to the laws ^.nd to -the civil authority *« 



( 54 •) 

• ihatthe real liberty cf exercifing their woi*ftip, 
legally proelakned and allowed, would reunite 
mens minds, put an end to diforders, and bring 
back the world tp thofe true moral principles, 
which gives efBcient power to .government ; that 
very few indeed have been enlightened by phile- 
fophy ; that religion alone can create and puri- 
fy manners ; that morality can be efficacious, 
only, as it is combined with public Vv^orfhip 5 that 
4he^ reunion of the priefts of different opinions 
would greatly contribute towards public tranquil- 
lity I that peace will never be eftablifhed, until 
the miniiters of the catholic religion fhall have 
•genteel ftated incomes fecured to them ; that the 
priefts ought to be allowed - ftipends fufficient 
to place them above want, and finally, that it is 
extremely defirable, that every difunion on ac- 
count of religious opinions (hould be at once 
terminated, by a decifion of the Pope, fince that 
is the only way to eftablifh morality and probity 
on a ftable permanent foundation." 

Such is the wilTi and opinion of all the citizens, 
who have been invited by the laws to contribute 
-to the information of government, upon the im- 
portant fubje£l of the people's fituation and ne* 
ceffities ; fuch is the wifh of refpeftable fathers 
of families, who are the legitimate guardians of 
the manners of a ftate, and who are by far the 
beft judges, when an enquiry is on foot, to ap- 
preciate the falutary influence jof morality and 
^ religion. 



From the correfpondence of government with 
theprefecbs, the very fame confequences and kn-^ 
timents are found to refult. 

" Thofe who cenfure the re-eftabllfhrnent or 
" religious worihip," writes the prefeft of ths^ 
department of La Manche, *^ know Paris only ; 
they are wholly ignorant of the refidue of the 
people, their defires, and their neceffities. I 
can afftire you, that the hope of a religious eftab- 



€i 

" lifhment, has already done infinite good in my 
*^ department; and that from the moment it was 



*• announced, it occafioned, amongft us perfeft 
** tranquillity." 

The prefect: of Jemappe affures us, *^ that eve* 
" ry v/orthy citizen, every refpefbable father of 
^^ a family, (ighed for a religious eftablifhment^ 
^* and that the reftoration of peace to the con- 
^-fciences of the people, would be a feal to that 
^* general peace, w»iich government was about 
^' to yield to the anxious, wiflies of France." 

Adefcter from the prefeftof Aveyron dated iptlr 
Nivofe (Jan. 8th) ftates- *^ that the inhabitants 
^^ of that department had found, that certain 
^^' exprefHons relative to religion, in the account 
^^ given in by government at the requeft of the 
*^ legiilative body, had produced the moil flatter- 
^^ ing confequences ; that men's minds were ob. 
^' ferved to-be tranquillized, and ecclefiaftics of 
*^ diffn'ent opinions to become more tolerant; 
^^' towards each other." 



( 56 ) 

I[ would be ufelefs to recite the multitude of 
other letters, from every part of the republic, all 
of which offer the fanie refult. 

Can the national will, be better underftocd, or 
be more clearly expreiTed ? 

It is this will, which government has conceiv- 
ed it its duty to confult, and to which, it thinks 
it its duty, to afford perfe£l fatisfaftion : for it 
cannot reafonably become a matter of doubt, 
whether a government fhould fupport and prote£i 
the particular religion, which has always been 
that of the great majority of the nation, and 
which that great majority of the naticn calls 
upon it to prefcrve. 

The workuf defl:ru£\ion is now at an end. That 

of eftablifliment and edification is now to engage 

our care. "Why then (l-ould government negletSl 

the principal means that prefents itfelf, for reftcr- 

nr.g order and rc-eftabUfhing confidence ? 

How have thofe conquerors a£led. who have 
wiflied to preferve and^ confolidate their ftates ? 
They have everywhere left to the conquered 
people, their priefts, their worffiip, and their^ 
altars It is the fame fplrit of wifdom which 
a nation fliruld adopt after a revolution, for a 
revolution is the fame as a con que fl. 

The miniflers of the republic, among foreign 
p^owers, fend Vv'ord " that religious peace has 
" confirmed por>ical peace. That it has wreft- 
^' cd the poniard from the hands of intrigue, and; 



( 57 } 

^* fan-atiGuiii ; and th^t it is the re-eftablifTiment cf 
^' Fviigion which bringsbackeverpvanderingheartj- 
** and reconciles it again to its country/' 

Independent of the motives which we are njw 
difclofing, and which, with refpe£t to religious 
affairs, pointed out to government the'coijduft 
it has purfued ; more enlarged confiderations 
{till, engaged its attention and folicitude, 

France is not an ifiand. An inililated {lat€ 
may with facility Hmit itfelf in its inllituticns, as 
it is already limited by the fea. 

The French hold the firil rank among the 
continental nations of Europe. The moft pow« 
erful neighbours of France, her mofl faithful al- 
lies, the new -republics of Italy, whofe independ- 
ence has been purchafed by the courage of her 
foldiers, are all Catholics- Among the moderns, 
conformity of religious fentiments has becom.e 
the great channel of comm.unication, conneflionj 
and influence, as well with governments as with 
individuals. It behoves the French n3tion not 
to lofe any of thefe advantages, to ftrengthen 
and even extend its ties of amity, of vicin^^gej 
and all its political relations. Why then fnould 
it renounce a religion, which it profefles in com- 
mon with fo many other fhates ? 

Ought we to be alarmed by the fear of the de- 
figns of the court of Rome ? 

As a fovereign, the Pope czn no longer be for- 
r^:idaole to any power : nay, he will always have 

H 



( S3 ) 

occaiion for the fupport of France, and thTs cir* 
cumflance cannot fail, to increafe the inSuence of 
the French government in the affairs of the church, 
v/hich are almoft always blended with thofe of 
politics. 

As the head of a religious fociety, the P pc 
hr^s only an authority limited by well known prin- 
ciples, which are mofi: particularly guarded a- 
mongfl us, but which belong to the general law 
of nations. 

The Pope had formerly in riie religious orders, 
an immenfe force, which rendered him obeifance, 
which crufhed the true paflors^ and which was 
always ready to propogate the doflrines of the 
court of Rome. Our laws licenfe that force, and 
they m-iy fafely do fo, for it has never difputed 
with the public authority, the right to remove cr 
to annul any arbitrary iniLitutions, which w^ere 
not really eiTential to religion, or which were 
thought fufpicious or injurious to the ftate. 

In conformity with this fundamental rule, we 
fhall only have a fecular clergy; that is to fay, 
Bilhops and Priefls, w^hofe interefls it will always 
be, to defend our principles as their own pecu- 
liar privileges, fince their privileges^ namely, the 
rights of epifcopacy and prieilhood, can only b^. 
warranted by thofe principles. 

The laft rule of general regulation is, that 
the Bifiiops mufl: receive their canonical ordination 
or iniialment from the Pope, no reafons of ftatd. 



I! 



( 59 ) 

o^jght to induce government to refufe this regu- 
lation, fince the Pope, in inllailing them, is on- 
ly a nominal pa,trcn, and fince he cannot refufc 
ordination to a prieft, v/ho has a right to demand 
it. The mod iuiportant confideration of public 
tranquillity, the great and urgent motives of pre-* 
venting fchifms in the cliurch, call upon the ci- 
vil magillrate to coutmue an ufage, which never 
has been interrupted, but by the civil conftltution 
of the clergy, a coniVitution which no longer ex- 
ifts, but in the troubles it has occafioned. 

Before that conftitution, and under the an- 
cient regime, although the Pope inftalled, it was 
the Prince who nominated the Biihops. It was 
iuftly conOdered, that epifcopacy, no more than 
^ny ©ther maglftracy, ought to be confined to men 
v»aio were not perfectly v/ell known. Elections 
by the people, convoked in primary aflemblics, 
took place of nomination by the King. This 
mode vanifbed along with the laws by which it. was 
appointed, and no other mode was fubllituted in 
•its place.., after that epoach, the election of Bifli-* 
,cps was- fubjected to no eilablifhed form, to no 
form indeed avowed by '.the civil authority. 
Government -has conceived it would be very un- 
>wnfe, to commit thefe elections any longer to the 
•hazard of circumftances. 

' By the conftitution, under which we haVi^ 
the happinefs to live, the power to elecl, in re* 
ality, rcfidcs in the fenate aiid in the govern- 



( ^0 ) 

merit. The fcnate nominates to the firft autnor- 
ities of the republic, the government has the 
nomination of all places, military, adminiftratlve, 
judicial and political : it nominates to all thofe, 
which concern the arts and public inftruftion. 

The Bifhops arc not exprefsly within the pro- 
vifion of the conftitution, but their miniftry is too 
clofely connected with inftrudlion, with every 
branch of the police, to be left out of the con- 
iiderations, which have caufed to be conferred 
on the Chief Conful, the nomination of prefects, 
of judges, and of inftruflors. I fay then, that for 
this reafon, the chief magiftrate, whofe duty it is 
to maintain tranquillity and to guard the morals 
of the people, ought to reckon among the num- 
ber of his functions and duties, the choice of 
Eifliops, that is to fay, the choice of men, partic- 
ularly confecrated to the teaching of morality, and 
of the truths moil proper for influencing coa- 
fciences- 

Every Bifhop, approved by the ftate and Inftall- 
ed by thePope, had by the laws of France, a right 
to collate to all ecclefiaftlcal offices, in his ref- 
peciive diocefe- Why fhould this regulation now 
belaid afide ? It is only at thofe moments, when 
there is danger of the fpirit of party impelling 
overheated zeal beyond all bounds, and feducing 
even the beft difpofed men into error, that it be- 
■comes neceffary, to preferve a ftri£l fuperintend-- 
ence over the choree, which mig*ht be made ef 
the chief paftcrs of religion. 



( 6i ) 

Since the French catholics, that is to hj) a 
great majority of the people of France, demand 
that catholicifm ihoiild be fupported, fince gov- 
ernment cannot refufe to accede to this demand^ 
without perpetuating and aggravating the troubles 
which have torn the ftate to pieces ; it of couvfe 
becomes nece^tTiry, to provide an endowment for 
that worfhlp; which cannot fubfift without Tiin- 
ifters ; and the rights of nature demand, that a 
♦fuitable fupply fhould be granted, to fecure an 
adequate fubfiftence for thefe minifters. 

Such are the fundamental principles of the 
convention, between the French government and 
the Huly See- 

PoiTibly, there may be fome who v/ill complain^, 
that the marriage of priefts has not been preferv- 
cd, and that advantage has not been taken of 
circumflances, to purify a worfhip greatly over- 
loaded v/irh rites, ceremonies and dogmas. 

But when it is once admitted, that a religion 
ought to be preferved, it becomes neceilciry to 
regulate that religion, according to its own prin!» 
ciples. 

The ambition which has been manifefted, and 
the pov/er which it v/ould arrogate to itfrJf, of 
arbitrarily modelling religious inftitutions, are 
but pretenfions, contradiftory to the very nature 
of things. 

By other lav/s, defective laws may be correfl:- 
^d; In queftions of philofophv, one fyflem may 



< 65 ) ' 

"fee abandoned, and a better one embraced n> iis 
ftead ', but it is impoffible to undertake the ani-^ni- 
ment of a religion, without firft granting, that 
it is vicious, and confequently, without deftroy- 
ing it, by the very means adopted for its conier- 
Jf ation. 

We grant, that catholicifm has more rites than 
the other chriftian worfnlps, but that is no rea- 
-ionable -ground of objeftion to it; for it ha^ 
been truly remarked, that on this very account-^ 
the catholics are fo invincibly attached to their 
religion. 

With refpe(fl to religious dogmas, the clvU 
power ought not to intermeddle with them, pro- 
vided, they do not lead to confequences ruinous 
to the flate. Philofophy itfelf, has no right to 
?take ofFence at the. faith of men, in matters, which 
fliut up in the impenetrable relations exifling be- 
tween God and man, are far beyond the reach 
.of all human philofophy. The main point is^ 
.fliat morality fnould be.praclifed. But to detach 
the greater part of mankind from the doctrines 
on which their confidence and their faith are 
fcuilt, would anfwer no other purpofe, but that 
of detaching them from morality itfelf. 

The prohibition of catholic priefts from mar^ 

.riage, is of a very long (landing, and involves moft 

i(iaportant confiderations. Men, who are confer 

.crated to the divinity, ought to be reverenced: 

.and in a religion which exa^s from them great 



( ^3 ) 

perfonal purity, it is well for them to abfta^^ 
from every thing, that can raife a fufpicion of 
firailty in that rcfpeft. The catholic worfliip 
demands unremitting afTiduity, and continus^l 
attention : it has been fupp fed a duty to its 
miniflers, to fpare them the burthen of a family. 
Finally, the people Jove, in the regul'.^tions which 
appertain to the manners of ecclefiaftics, every 
thing that bears the characler of aufterity, and 
this is amply illuRrated of late, by the general 
manifeftation of' a total want of confidence in 
the m.arried priefts. Every idea of this kind 
would have at once been extingulfhed, if any 
difpofition, to alienateourfelves from the pracl- 
ices of other catholic- nations, had been e* 
vinced. 

No one is compelled to devote himfeif to tlie 
priefthood : fach who make choice of it, have 
only to meafure their refolution, by the extent of 
the facrifices exacted from them : they are per- 
feclly free. The lav/ has nothing to do Vv'lth 
their engagements, when it leaves them abfolute 
fovereigns of their own defli^.5^ 

I he celibacy of the priefts, cannot excite any 
difquietude in the civil policy ; it can only become 
obnoxious in proportion as the body of ecclefi- 
aftics becomes numerous, and as thr.t of the 
citizens deftineu to people tlie fiate, becomes in- 
fufficient. This is the fate of thofe countries^ 
■u^hich are covered with monaft-erles, with chapU 



( 64 ) 

erSj with fecular and regular orders of men and 
v/omen, and where the whole has a tendency to 
eflrange men from the marriage ftate, and all 
ilfeful purfuits. All thefe dangers are removed 
by our laws, the diftribution of which have 
placed in the hands of government, the readieft 
means to reconcile the interefts of religion with 
the welfare of fociety. 

In faft, on the one hand, we allow no great- 
er number of miinifters, than thofe, whofe exift- 
ence is indifpenfably neceffary to the exercife of 
divine worfhip ; a confid^rable diminution of the 
number of thofe, who formerly devoted themfelves 
to celibacy. On the other hand, the minifters 
whom we retain to the church, and for whom- 
celibacy is ordained by the ecclefiaftical regula- 
tions, will find no abiolute impediment to marfiagfy 
in the civil order. Thus, fliould any of them 
contrafh marriage, it would not be void in the 
eyes of the laws, political and civil, and the 
children of that marriage wovtld be legitimate : 
but, in the eccleriaftical court,^ and In the religious 
order, they would, thereby, expofe themfelves to 
the fpiritual penal ies demanded by the cancnical 
la^vs. 1 hey \'\ould contmue to enjoy the rights of 
family and citizen, but they would be forced to 
abrtain from the exercife of the priefthood. C -n- 
fequently, without enfeebling the terror of 
chtirdh difcipline, all the libeity *and ,all tl 



tr-e a a 



H- 



vantages guaranteed by the laws of the ftate, ar-e 



( 6s ) 

'preferred to individuals. It would have been 
unjuft to have gone further, and to have fixed 
upon the ecclefiaftics of France, as fuch, an 
exception which would have depreciated them, 
in the eyes of all catholic communities, and even 
among the French, to whom they would have to 
adniinifter the comforts of religion. 

It is one of thofe things which has been faid 
over and over again, becaufe it has been once 
faid, that catholicifm is the religion of monarch- 
ies, and that it is entirely unfuitable to republics. 

This expreffion is built upon an obfervation 
made by the author of the " fpirit of laws," that 
at the epoch of the grand fchifm made in the 
church by the new doctrines of Luther and Cai- 
man, the catholic religion maintained itfelf in ab- 
folute monarchies, whilft the proteftant found 
refuge in free governments. 

But all this is encountered by pofitive facls. 
The proteftant religion is profefTed in Pruffia, in 
Sweden, and in Denmark-; v/hile Vvc fee that the 
catholic is the prevailing religion, in the demo- 
cratic cantons of Switzerland and in all the re- 
publics of Italy. 

Without doubt, the fchifms which were made 
in the chriftian church, influenced indireftly, 
religion very much ; neither Holland nor Eng- 
land owes its revolution, direftly, to one religion 
snore than to another; but to the energy wibz 
K 



i 66 ) 

M^Kich religious diflentions filled the peoples mind^^ 
and the fanaticifm with which they were infpired. 
Never, fays a celebrated hiftorian,* w^ould they 
have been able tohaveaccomplifhed the purpofe of 
eftablifliing a new form of government, v/ithout 
the zeal and enthufiafm infpired by their religious 
diffeufions. 

What that hiftorian has faid of England, ap- 
plies aifo to Holland, which would never have 
attempted to have fhakenottthe Spanifh yoke». 
had it not been apprehenfive, that the exercife 
of its new do£lrines would have been prohibited. 

, In Bohemia and Hungary, thofe ftates became 
free, in proportion as mens minds becam.e inflam- 
ed by their conflicts about religi^m : they fought 
at the fame time for catholicifm. Vv^ithout fuch 
flruggles, Germany would not have been able to 
have preferved her government. It is the throng 
that has protected lutheranifm in Sweden y it is 
liberty that has protefted catholicifm in ether 
places. But the exaltation of mind which always 
accompanies religious difputesj whatever the 
foundation of the do£lrine which is maintained 
or fought forrnay be, has contributed to liberate 
people, who without the impulfe of a great re- 
ligious intereft, would never have had the con- 
ception or the vigour to have become free. 

On this point then, the fyftemof Montefquei^ 
is contradifted by hlftory. 



( ^7 ) 

TThe moft of thofe who have embraced that 
fyftem, that is to fay, who have ccnceived that 
CathoUcifm is the religion moft favourable to ab- 
folute monarchies, thought they could eflablifli 
it upon the falfe doctrines of the infallibility of 
the Pope, and of the arbitrary power, which the 
theologians on the other lide of the Alps attri- 
bute to him. But, it is no more reafonable to 
draw an argument from thofe doftrines, to prove, 
that defpotifm belongs to the fpirit of the catho- 
lic religion, than it would be by inferences from 
the extravagant doftrines of the Anabaptifts, con- 
cerning the fubjeft of liberty and equality, to 
maintain that proteftantifm in general, is friendly 
to anarchy, and irreconcikable with every well 
conftrucled government. 

According to the true catholic principles, the 
fovereign power in fpiritual matters refldes in the 
Church, and not in the Pope : in the fume man- 
ner, as according to the principles of our political 
arrangements, the fovereignty in temporal affairs 
refides in the nation, and not in any particular 
magiftrate. Nothing is arbitrary in the ecciefiaf- 
tical adminiftration ; every thing muft be done by- 
council. The authority of the Pope, is only that 
of a chief ofHcer who executes, not that of a maf- 
ter who wills, and makes his will a law. 

Nothing is lefs likely to faivour,of to render fa- 
miliar the ideas of fervitude and defpotifm, than 
the principles of a religion, which refufes to its 



( 68 ) 

miniilers all fort of domination, which inculcates 
as a duty, to admit nothing without examination, 
which does not exatt more from any man, than a 
reafonable obedience, and which defires not to 
govern, but by the influence of merit, and the ef** 
fential laws of liberty. 

It will appear, that according to the regulated 
authority, the paftors of the catholic church are 
nottocxercife, either conjunctly or feparately, any 
power but that which will ferve as the means, not 
of enflaving the peoples minds, but of preventing 
them from wandering into abftraft contentious 
points of doftrlne, and of preventing or termina- 
ting thofe outrageous difputes and diflenfions, 
which otherwife would never ceafe. 

Governments, feel foftrongly the neceffify of 
underftanding the religious tenets, to which the 
people attach themfelves, that in thofe commu- 
nions, which allow every individual the right of 
explaining the Scriptures, they are all, colledive- 
ly, bound by public profeffions of faith, which do 
not vary, nor cannot be changed, without the ob» 
fervation of certain forms, capable of enfuring 
thofe governments from every innovation detri- 
mental to fociety. 

Finally, one of the great reproaches againfl ca- 
tholicifmj confifts, in an affertion, that it excludes 
without the pale of falvation, all thofe who are 
r.ot of her coi^municn, and in that way; is iutole-* 
cant and utifocia^L 



(69 ) 

We have nothing to fay to theologians of the 
catholic profeffion, refpefting the deftiny of thofe 
who are out of the bofom of their chujch, Mon- 
tefquieu confiders this principle in no other light, 
" than as a motive of attachment to that religion, 
which has eftablifhed and teaches it." For fays 
he, " when a religion impreffes us with the idea, 
of a choice made by the divinity, and of a diftinc- 
tion made by God, between thofe who profefs, 
and thofe who do not profefs it, it certainly at- 
taches us very warmly to that religion.^' We 
will add, with the fame author, that in order to 
judge, whether a particular dc£lrine be ufeful or 
pernicious to civil fociety, it is lefs neceflary to ex- 
amine the doftriae itfeif, than the confequences 
which we are authorized to expeft from it, and 
which determine the benefits or abufes that refult 
from it. 

" Do6lrines the mod pure and holy, may pro- 
duce confequences extremely bad, when not clofely 
connected with the principles of civil fociety ; and 
on the contrary, the dnoft falfe doctrines may- 
have admirable confequences, when it is knov/n 
that they are conformable to thofe principles." 

^^ The religion of Comfucius denies the im- 
mortality of the foul, and the fed of Zeno dif- 
believes it. What then ! Thefe two feds have 
drawn from their bad principles, confequences 
Jiot in themfelves true, but admirable for fociety, 
Xhe religions of^ Tao and Foj believed the imr 



( 70 ) 

mortality of the foul; but from this do£lrinej 
holy as it is, the mod frightful confequences have 
arifen." 

" In all parts of the world and at all times, the 
belief of the immortality of the foul, when mif- 
underftood and miftaken, has perfuaded women, 
flaves, fubjefts, friends, to kill themfelves, in or- 
der to ferve in the other v/orld, the objeds of their 
love or their refpeft.'' 

It is not enough for a religion to lay down and 
eftablifh do£lrines : it ought to direft and con- 
troul them. 

This, the catholic religion has done, in all the 
dofirines which it teaches, never feparating the 
doftrines from that pure and wife morality, which 
ought to regulate their influence and application. 

Thus, fanatical priefts have abufed, and will 
ftill have the power to abufe, the catholic do£l- 
rine of the unity of the church, to anathematize 
their fellow creatures, and to prove themfelves 
cruel and intolerant. But fuch priefts are culpa- 
ble in the eyes of religion itfelf ; and the philofo- 
phy, which knows how to prevent them from be- 
ing dangerous, has fuccefsfuliy ferved the inter- 
cfts of religion, humanity and the country. 

The minifters of the catholic worflilp, cannot 
preach intolerance without oiFendingreafon, with- 
cmt violating the principles of univerfal charity, 
•without being rebels to the laws of the republic, 
and without: putting their dodrines in oppofition 



( 71 ) 

to the^'conduft of Providence : (ot if Providence 
had reafoned like fanatics, he v/oiild, after having 
chofen his people, have exterminated all others. 
Yet he willed the earth to be peopled vidth na- 
tions vi'ho profefs different worfhips, fome of 
whom are, to this day, plunged in darkiiefs and 
idolatry. Can they be wife, who pretend that 
they wifh to be wifer than Providence himfelf ? 

The catholic doctrine, well nnderftood, offers 
nothing alarming to a found philofopher ; it muik 
be granted, that at the epoch when the revolution 
broke out, the clergy being better inftrucled, had 
alfo become more tolerant. Is it likely, that this 
fpirit of toleration will ceafe to exift, after fo ma- 
ny events which have driven them to im.plore for 
themfelves that confideration, that refpe£l, and 
that forbearance, which was once implored from 
them by others ? 

There can be no reafonable caufe, then, ox op- 
poiition to the organization of a worihip, v/hich 
has long been the worfnip of the ftate, which is 
ftill that, of the great majority of the French peo- 
ple, and for which fo many motives of policy cal- 
led for their fuperintending protection, without 
which. It would have been im-polTible to put a ftop 
to religious diffenfions, and to be refponfible for 
ihe maintenance of a good police in the republic. 

But how organize a religion, rent by the moft 
ruel of all fchifms ? 

A g;reat advance has been already m^^de^ in the 



( 72 ) 

fecognition of the fpiritual primacy ef the Roma 
PonliiF, and in acknowledging that he had nc. 
loft the relations, which the former ftate of ec- 
elefiaftical difcipline had eftabliihcd between the 
Pontifr and the other paftors. 

But there muft be means to carry this into 
cffea. 

How reconcile the difrerent titulars, who may- 
be at the head of the fame diccefe, or of the fame 
parifh, each of whom believes himfelf to be the 
fole legitimate paftor of that parifh, or of that dio- 
cefe ? 

The queftions on which the titulars divided^ 
were not purely theological : they involred fub- 
jefts which concerned the refpecdve rights of 
the priefthood and the empire : they fprung from 
the laws w^hich the civil power had enacted for 
ecclefiaftical affairs. It was not pcfTible to termi- 
nate, by ordinary means, the diflenfions, which 
relating to objefts interwrn^'en with the interefts 
of the flate and with the prerogatives of national 
fovereignty, were incapable of being decided by 
dodrinal opinions, and which confequently^, 
could not have the unhappy refult, of difturbing 
the confcicnce of the citizen, or bringing his 
fidelity into fufpicion. 

A vigorous meafure became necefTary. It was 
found expedient to ftrike at the very root of the 
evil, and to obtain, all at- once, the difmiffion of 
all thetitidars, whefoever they migixt b^*, Ihie 



( 73 ) 

momentous meafure, for which preparation had 
been made, by the confidence which the wifdoni 
of government had been able to infpircj by the 
afcendency which it had obtained over all minds 
and all hearts, and by the fplendour of its fucceiTes. 
on every fide, is now efFefted, to the aftoniih* 
ment and admiration of all Europe, to the confo- 
lation of religion, and to the great glory of the 
country. 

By this means, every thing that is ufeful and 
good, is become attainable, and thofe facrifices^ 
which force has never been able to extort, hai-e 
been generoufly offered up, by patriotifm, by 
eonfcience, and by liberty. 

What does the ftate give in return for thefs 
facrifices ? It gives to thofe, who fnall be hon- 
oured with its choice, the right to do good to 
mankind, by exercifing the augufl fun£lions of 
their miniftry : and if the imperious reafons, 
which have perfuaded government to dimlnifh the 
number of ecclefiaflical ofiices, will not allow it 
to bring into employment, the talents and the 
virtues of all the abdicated paftors, it will, never 
forget, with what willing devotion, they have 
all contributed to the re-eftaWifiiment of religious 
peace. 

We have remarked in^ the outfet, that in the 

firft years of the revolution, the catholic clergy 

were defpoiled of the great wealth which they 

joffeffed* The fecular power being as entirely: 

L 



{ 74 ) 

eftranged from the jurifdiclion of. ^he pontiiFof 
Rome, as from other pontiirs, the intervention 
of the Pope was never required to confolidatc 
and confirm the rights of the purchafers of eqoJe? 
fiaftlcal property. The minifters of a religion, 
which is only a fyftem of education of men for 
another life, have no right to intermingle with 
the affairs of this : but it has been thought expe* 
dient, that the voice of the head of the church, 
who is incompetent to make laws for fociety, 
fliould be heard in gentle admonitions to the 
confcience^ calming the fears and inquietudes, 
which the laws cannot always appeafe. This 
explains the ciaufe, by which the Pope in the 
convention with government, recognizes the 
purchafers of church property, as immutable 
proprietors. 

We think it unneceffary to enter into a fong 
detail, of what concerns the catholic religion. 
I ought not, neverthelefs, to omit-the arra^ige- 
ment, by which it is avowed, that the catholic 
is the religion of the three confuls, and of the 
great majority of the nation. But at the fame 
time, in fo doing, we are bound to declare two 
inconteftable fact?, w^ithout meaning by that 
dfeclaration to attribute to catholicifm any of 
the political characters, which v.'ould be irrecon- 
cileable with our new fyftem of legiflatlon. Ca^ 
tUolicifm Is in France, at this very moment, the 
religion: of the members of government^ but not" 



t 75 ) 

tJf ftie-^gbvernmenf ftftffV it isllie^^ionWf^^q 
iiiajority of the people, but not of the,,ftate.— 
'I'his is one of the things, which muft not' be 
confounded, and which have never been con- 
founded. 

As liberty of confcience is the objeft of all the 
laws, the government whilfl: engaged In organiz- 
ing the catholic worfhip, was not lefs employed 
about that of the proteflant, A portion of the 
French people profefs that religion, and its public 
exercife was authorized in France, until the re- 
vocation of the edift of Nantes., 

At that epoch, proteftantifm was profcribed^ 
and every fpecies of perfecution was difplayed a- 
gainft its profeflbrs, who were immediately cha- 
fed from the territory of France. But as it af- 
terwards appeared, that the emigration was too 
great, and that it weakened the ftate, the protef- 
tants were forbidden to leave France, under pe- 
nalty of the gallies. While they were compelled 
ta remain amongft us, they were declared incapa- 
ble of holding any place, or exercifing any em- 
ployment : nay, they were interdicted from mar- 
riage itfelf. Thus, a numerous part of the nation 
were condemned not to ferve either God or their 
Country. Is it wife to precipitate, by fuch mea- 
fures, multitudes of mankind into the defpair of 
religious atheifm, and into the danger of a fort 
of political atheifm hoftile to the Rate. Can It 
Ibe-fuppofed pouible, that any dependence c«n tre 



( 7S r 

phced on i«eri, rendered profligate by neceflify, 
enflaved by violence, and who have been, all at 
once, declared aliens to the advantages of citizen- 
fliip, and to the very rights of nature. Is it not 
'evident that thefe men, juftly irritated, would be 
at all times powerful auxiliaries to thofe, who 
wifhed to raife murmurs and complaints. Let 
them not be compelled then to favour every doc- 
trine, every notion, every novelty which can af« 
ford them vengeance for the part, or hopes for 
the future. I am aftonifhed that our writers, 
iFpeaking of the revocation of the edi£l of Nantes, 
have never defcribed that event in any other 
view, but that of the injury it did to our com- 
merce, without ever employing themfelves, in de- 
ducing from it, the moral confequences which 
fuch events ever had upoii fociety, the ultimate 
refults of which are out of the reach of human 
calculation. 

With the revolution, the fpirk of liberty has 
brought back the fpirit of juftice : the proteftants 
reftored to their country and their religion, hav€ 
become again, what indeed they have never cea- 
fed to be, our fellow-citizens and brothers. The 
protedion of tne ftate is guaranteed to them in 
every refpeft, the fame as to catholics. 

'In proteftantifm there are various communions, 
let ns trace the ftiades which diftinguifli them, r 
^^ The chief eflential to public order and to maim^ 
^ner$ is, not that men fhould have the fame reii« 



i 77 ) 

gion, but that every man fiiould attach himfelf 
to his own : for fo long as it is certain that the 
different religions, the exercife of which is au- 
thorized, contain precepts ufeful to fociety, it is 
right that each of thofe religions fiiould be ob-^ 
ferved with zeal. 

Liberty of confcience is not only a natural 
right, but a political advantage. It has been 
* found, that wherever diverfe religions exift, each 
alike authorized in its particular mode of wor- 
fliip, the profeflbrs are particularly cautious of 
doing any thing, v/hich might difhonour their 
church, or expofe it to public contempt or cenfure. 
It has ftill further been remarked, that thofe who 
live in rival or tolerated religions, are commonly 
more anxious to make themfelves ufeful to their 
country, than thofe who live in the calm and par- 
ticipate in the honours of a predominant religion. 
Tinally, would you convince yourfelves of the 
truth of what I fay,Tefpe£ling the advantages of 
having feveral religions in a ftate, only caft your 
eyes to what pafies in a country, where there is 
already a predominant religion, and another re- 
ligion eftabiiihed by the fide of it. The eftab- 
lifhment of the new religion will always be the 
means of correfting the abufes of the old. 

In attending to the organization of different 
religions, the government has not loft fight of the 
Jewifh. It ought to fhare in common with 
2«diers, the liberty decreed by our iaw«. But the 



X 7-8 ) 

Jsw^lormv-BOt fo much a religion :^5 a pcopTei 
They fojouTn among -ail nations, without ever 
intermixing with them. The government has 
thought it a duty to refpeft the eternity of that 
peopie, which has reached us through the revol- 
utions and ruins of ages, and which fo far as con* 
earns its prli^f^-hood and its worfnip, looks upon 
it. as one of itsgreateft privileges, to have no other 
rules but thofe under which it has always exifted, 
becaufe its confiders its greateft to confift, in hav- 
ing God himfelf alone for a legiflator. 
-^Having developed the principles which have 
formed the bafis of the operations of our gov- 
ernment, I muft now exhibit to you the form 
and fhape which have been given to thofe oper- 
ations. 

In every religion there exifls aprlefthood, or a 
miniflry, whofe duty it is to teach its doctrines, 
to perform the ceremonial of its 'worfhip, and to 
maintain its difcipline. Religious affairs have 
a great iniiuence upon public order, the ftate can- 
not remain indiiFerent to it. 

On the other hand, religion in itfelf, as having 
its refidence in the confcience, owes notitsdire£l 
authority to the law, it is a matter of faith, and 
not of will. When we allow a religion, we al- 
low in the common courfe of reafon, the prin- 
ciples and rules by which that rehgion is govern- 

What then ought the civil magiftr^tc-to do ib 



( 7? i 

t^Ugk?fi%ii"J^t:?P ^ He ought to know, and aC- 
certain,' th^i^^ondiit ions a;nd rulesy; under \|^hich th^ 
ftatecan^iUthoj-iz^, without danger to itfelf, the 
public exercife of a particular worfliip. 

It is this, which the French government has 
done with relation to the catholic worfhip. It 
ha3 treated with the Pope^ not as a foreign fov- 
ereign, but aa a chief of the univerfal church, of 
which the catholics of France make a part. It 
has fettled with that <:hief the plan^on which the 
catholics are to continue to profefs and exercife 
their worfliip in Franca. Such is the objeft of 
the convention between this government and 
Pius VII. and fuch are the organic articles of 
that convention. 

The French proteftants have no chief, but they 
have, minifters and p^ftcrs,. they have a difci** 
pline too, which is not exatlly the fame in the 
different creeds, proper inftruflions have been re- 
quired, and on thefe inftru<SliQns the organic ar- 
ticles of the different proteflant creeds have been 
regulated. 

.Thefe operations could not be matter for regu- 
lation of law ; it belongs to the laws to admit or 
to reje£l the different religions, but thefe have in 
themfelves an exiftence independent of laws, the 
origin of which, cannot be fuppofed to exift in the 
hurn^in will, ao-g/l^i ii^ci) r^iav^' \o d^iu^ huh -^"^i^i ■ 

In the fecond place, the law is defined by thd" 
^onHimtion^ ^^ an acl, of the general willy ^ but this 



H 



( 80 ) 

eh^ra^er cannot be meant h) apply to inftltu- 
tions, which are neceffariiy peculiar to thofe who 
adopt them from convi<5lion or from confcience. 
Liberty of confcience is the benefaftion of the 
law, but the nature, the inftru£lion, and the dif- 
cipline of every worihip, ar« concerns which can- 
not te eft^bliftied by law, but have their fanftua- 
ry in the impenetrable receffes of the free will of 
^e hearto^ 

The convention with the Pope, and the organic 
articles of that convention, partake of the nature 
of diplomatic treaties, that is to fay, of the nature 
of a real contraft. That which we fay of the 
ionvention with the Pope, applies to the organic 
articles of the proteftant worfhip. Throughout, 
we cannot fee one expreffion of the fovcreign and 
national will. On the contrary, nothing is to be 
feen, but the particular expreffion and declara- 
tion of that v/hich they believe, and of that which 
they pradtifc, who belong to the different reli* 
gions. 

Such are the leading confiderations which havje 
determined the form, in which the gcvernment 
has preSented to ycu, Citizen Legiilators, the va- 
rious afts which relate to the exercife of the dif- 
ferent w^orfhips, the liberty of which is folemnly, 
guaranteed by our laws ; and thefe very confide- 
rations determine the fort of fanflion which thefc 
a£ls allow. 

To pu. Citizen Legiflators, it belongs to sp**- 



( Si ) 

prove the important refult, which is now to^ be 
the objecl of your folemn decrees. 

Reh'gious mftitutions belong to the inconfidera- 
ble number of thofe things, which have the moft 
direct and moft perpetual influence upon the mo- 
ral exiftence of a people. To negletl thefe inlli- 
tutions, would be, to betray the people. All 
France calls, with a loud voice, for the ferious 
execution of the laws concerning religious 
worfiiip. 

By the articles of religious organization, ail 
animoGties will be appeafed, all doubts and dif- 
^trufts will be terminated ; mifery will find confo* 
lation ; malevolence will be reprefled ; a rallying 
point will be eftabliflied for ail hearts^ confcience 
itfelf will yield to the reconciliation, if I may be 
allowed to ufe the expreffion, to the reconciliation 
of the Revolution with Heaven. 

Country is not an abftraft exiftence. In a fta^e 
fo extenfive as France, and in which there lives 
fuch a diverfity of people, with fuch a diverfity 
of climate, Country would be no more an objefi: 
of fenfible attachment, than would the world, if 
we were not affianced to it, by objeflis capable 
of bringing it continually home to our minds, our 
imaginations, our fenfes, and our affeftions.— 
Country has in it nothing of reality, but Its be- 
ing compofed of all the inftitiitions, which caa 
endear it to us. 

M . 



r di ) 

It 13 the duty of c\.\if::t to love their country, 
but to that end, they mult think the'mfelves belo^ 
r€A. -Jf the Country protects property, the citi- 
zen will be as much attached to it, as to property 
itfelf. 

It muft be granted that in the very nature of 
things, religious inftitutions are thofe which unite, 
and more than any other, draw man and man 
together; thofe which intermingle moft with our 
habits in every fituation of life, thofe which fpeak 
moft feelingly to the heart •, thole which can moft 
efreclually confole under the unequal diftributions 
of fortune, and of themfelves alone, render 
fupportable, the dangers and wrongs infeparable 
from a ftate of fociety ;. In a word, thofe which 
affording an inexhauftible perennial fpring of 
comfort to the aSiched, and throwing open to the 
guilty, the gates of repentance, well deferve to be 
reverenced as the be ft fupports of our feeble 
nature. How deeply then is this country con- 
cerned in the cultivation and prote^Hon of reli- 
gion, fince it is by religion, more than all other 
things, fo many human beings, deftined to endure 
the drudgery of life, can be firmly attached to 
their country. 

Citizens Legifiators, all who are fincere friends 
to the caufe of true liberty, will blefs you for 
having elevated your minds to thofe gveat and 
glorious principles, which have been confecra=- 
ted by the experience of revolving ages, whrcli 



have been the beft gu. . .*r....v^ -^^ ^ ,. . appi- 
nefs and profperity of nations, and which have 
given to empires, the moft eiEcient force and 
itabilky. 



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